GEORGE MEREDITH AS PUBLISHER'S READER. had previously published with the firm The Shaving of Shagpat and The Ordeal of Richard Feverel, but his next book, Evan Harrington, was issued through Bradbury and Evans, in whose journal, Once a Week, it had appeared serially. Modern Love brought him back to Chapman and Hall in 1862, and thenceforward all his novels issued from that house until 1895, with the exception of Rhoda Fleming, The Adventures of Harry Richmond, and The Egoist. Mr. Meredith's connection with The Fortnightly Review need not be recorded in detail here; it will suffice to say that during Mr. John (now Lord) Morley's absence in America Mr. Meredith occupied the editorial chair, while further association with Chapman and Hall is discovered in his editorship of the series of monographs on great soldiers bearing the general title of Military Biographies. The present writer did not enter the firm until 1880, a few months before Carlyle's death and ten years after that of Dickens, while at that time George Meredith had not attained the general recognition accorded to him a few years later, although he had received the praise and encouragement of some of the greatest of his contemporaries. Nevertheless, to every member of the firm of Chapman and Hall he was a great man, respected and almost reverenced as a personality of an unusual order, and his presence in the office created an impression such as the King's would do on entering a shop. His figure was familiar to all: the striking head, with clearly chiselled features; the bright red tie contrasting sharply with the iron-gray hair, and the general appearance of alertness, had something of a galvanic effect upon those with whom he came into contact, and his conversation was no less electrifying. Without wandering too far from the main subject of this paper, I may perhaps be permitted to recall one incident in our personal annals. Well do I remember the arrival of the MS. of One of Our Conquerors at the office, and the feeling of excitement that pervaded a certain section of the staff. Mr. Fred Chapman's departure was eagerly awaited that day, and no sooner had he gone than I, with another member of the staff, stole up to his room to have a peep at the precious document. How we puzzled over that first paragraph and wrestled with the waistcoat, the dinner, the piece of orange peel, and London Bridge, wondering when we should reach the first full stop! It was not an easy task to read Mr. Meredith's handwriting in the familiar blue ink: the MS. was neat enough but it wanted carefully spelling out. That was the last of his books save one, Lord Ormont and His Aminta, issued by the firm, and when, shortly after, they had been added to the "collected" edition as publishers we knew him no more. During all these years Mr. Meredith with but few exceptions, read all the manuscripts sent in to the firm, and it is the intention in this article to show what a conscientious reader he was, and to give some extracts of his opinions of a few of the more prominent ones which came under his notice. Parcels containing six or eight manuscripts were dispatched to him during later years with a "catalogue," as he called the list, leaving space for his opinion, afterwards to be transcribed in the official "manuscript" book. This, I assume, was done also in the 'sixties and 'seventies, but instead of sending his opinions in the very early days, he evidently brought them in his head to town with him and transcribed them in the book himself, which makes that book a priceless possession to-day. But I find that during a certain period neither of these plans was adopted and consequently there is no record available for reference. His visits to London were fairly regular, and if my recollection serves me, it was the Thursday in each week that he called at the office. On these occasions he would interview those authors, some of whom have put on record their impressions of the great man gained at these meetings. Only about a dozen years have elapsed since he relinquished his post of reader, and yet one wonders what his opinion would have been of many of the books that are published to-day, and obtain such popularity. To say he was difficult to please is to understate the fact. His standard was tremendously high, and from that pinnacle his judgment was right and sound. But some doubt may be expressed as to whether that standard was the right one from which to judge a book for commercial purposes, as will presently be seen. Yet those writers who valued his opinion made a point of sending their manuscripts to the firm in order to get that opinion, whether favorable or not. Some authors even went to the extent of sending their works to him direct, which annoyed him at times. But they received the same careful attention, and he favored no one. An introduction by a friend made no difference. He gave his honest opinion, caustic enough at times, but always honest from his point of view. It may be that many a novel, disposed of in a few words, to a less critical man might have been thought to contain some elements of popular success. And as a matter of fact, many an early MS. of a popular novelist to-day has received a summary dismissal by him in a cryptic sentence. Even had an author made some sort of a popular success and sent his new book for consideration, it was dealt with on its merits and not on its author's reputation. I remember a case in point. Some time before Hugh Conway awoke one day and found Called Back had made him famous, he had sent us a story which had appeared in a provincial paper as a serial under the title of The Red Hills Mystery. It had by no means met with the great man's approval, but had for some reason not been returned to the author. A month or two after success had come to its author Mr. Meredith was in the office, and I drew his attention to the fact that we still had that former MS., and asked him if, in view of the success of Called Back, he thought it worth while looking at it again. He agreed to do so, but his opinion was not shaken, and the book was ultimately returned, to be published by someone else under the title of A Cardinal Sin. Mr. Meredith's word was the final one for us in almost every circumstance. Between the years 1860 and 1895 many notable manuscripts passed between the firm and its famous reader, some of which it published and many of which it did not. John Forster retired in August, 1860, and in the same month we find that the first manuscript on record that Mr. Meredith read was entitled The Two Damsels: a Spanish Tale, by C. M. as as disposed of O'Hara, which he "childish: return without comment." Then came close on its heels The Fleet that Brought the Pudding Home, by Blanchard Jerrold, summed up "poor, genial stuff"; and immediately following it Whyte Melville's Market Harborough is described as "of the order of Soapy Spunge's Sporting Tour. Not so funny: appeals to same class." In 1861 there is a particularly interesting entry: East Lynne. "Opinion emphatically against it." In the light of its ultimate success, this may at first But seem an astounding criticism. how many sound critics would differ from that opinion if they could read the manuscript for the first time now? Or it may be asked how many critics did at the time? This year we find Anna Drury's novel Misrepresentation reported on as follows: "If accepted, the title must be changed. I cannot recommend it, and though it will hardly bring us I credit, it will not do much harm. don't find stuff in the story. It does not appeal to any special class; it has no high literary pretensions. Still, it is pretty, pleasant, well-meaning, and full of a kindly heart and brain." The title, however, was not altered, and the book became popular. In the same year two manuscripts were received from William Black, entitled respectively Alec Grange and James Merle, probably his first attempts as a novelist, for his age would have been Here is an intwenty at the time. stance of Mr. Meredith's ability for discovering talent in an author whose works he could not conscientiously recommend. Of the former he says: In its way very good-in the earlier I have not part highly promising. seen the concluding portion; but it is but a thin thread of story I have got as yet. The author's mind evinces strong sense and poetic perceptions; he has a remarkably clear style, and a power of giving soft pathetic touches, which I commend. He does not know much of life, nor has he the proper artistic feeling for the development of his characters in an interesting way. Write very encouragingly. Don't lose sight of him. His opinion of the latter was "sent direct to the author in a letter. Book will not do," he says; "but the author strongly encouraged. A man on whom to keep an eye." Later the book was sent again, having been revised, but it was not recommended for publication. James Merle was not issued until three years later, and appeared as Wm. Black's first published novel, whilst Alec Grange does not seem to have been printed-at any rate, under that title. In the same year (1861) there is still another interesting and important entry: Poems by Edwin Arnold. "I should say this man will do something. The collection of poems here is not of sufficient weight to justify any speculation in the book. The translation in hexameter from Bion is especially good. He should wait till he has composed a poem likely to catch the public ear. There is no distinct original mark in these poems: not enough to rely on." The last entry of this year is George Meredith: a Tale of the Merchant Service, upon which the only comment made is, "Pray speak to this man concerning the impropriety of taking living names as titles for works of fiction." From this time onward some half a dozen manuscripts by Cuthbert Bede passed through his hands, none of which seems to have interested him much. Verdant Green was not, however, of these. In 1862 there are only two notable incidents: a novel by Ouida entitled Villiers and one by Mrs. Lynn Linton entitled Isola, each having opposite the entry the simple but peremptory word "Decline." Mr. Meredith evidently had no sympathy with Mrs. Lynn Linton's opinions as expressed in her books. More than one novel was offered to the firm and promptly declined by him. Of the last sent to him in 1894 he said, "Very sour in tendency, hard in style. All forced, and exemplify the author's abhorrence of the emancipation of young females from their ancient rules. She has been doing this sort of thing in all directions. She has a certain number of readers. There are also many who are repelled by her. It seems to me there would be very many who would not relish the book." During the 'sixties came two more manuscripts by William Black which did not satisfy, although the author was again encouraged to go on, as was G. A. Henty, whose story Frank Tressilor was returned with instructions to "encourage the author to send any future work." G. J. Holyoake's Robert Dalby and His World of Troubles was said to be "very genuine, with touches of pathos and much truthfulness of sentiment. The tale is thin stuff, rather pretty, but not exciting for present readers." On December 30th, 1868, is the entry of The Poor Man and the Lady, by Thomas Hardy, but no opinion is recorded. However, Mr. Hardy has himself recently referred to the incident, and it is to be assumed that although the MS. was not up to the mark, it exhibited to Mr. Meredith, as did those of Wm. Black, an ability and genius to be encouraged, which eventually matured and justified his interest in the author. It was Mr. Hardy's first novel, and has never been published, and its author states that only a fragment of the manuscript remains Piccadilly, when he received much good advice, he assures us, but advice, he adds, that Mr. Meredith did not follow himself. Other names which occur at this period on which little or no comment beyond a monosyllable is made are Charles Clarke, Tom Hood (For Valour), Annie Thomas (Ashleigh Towers), Miss Craik (Theresa's Love Story), Gordon Stables, W. H. Kingston (Kilfinnan) ("not quite the book for boys"), Archibald Forbes (Hector Macdonald) ("has merit, but won't do"), Hawley Smart (Bitter is the End), and a book by S. Baring Gould entitled In Exitu Israel, of which he says, "It has merit, but is tedious." Some of his comments at this time and in later years on works by G. M. Fenn, Mrs. Alexander Fraser, Joseph Hatton, Mrs. Campbell Praed, Mrs. Linnaeus Banks, Richard Bagot, Percy White, Herman Merivale, Lieut. Andrew Haggard, Mrs. Alfred Sidgwick, A. W. Marchmont, and many other modern writers whose books under notice were doubtless early, if not first books, were disposed of with such comments as "utter rubbish," "won't do," "commonplace story," "poor," "bad," "of no strength or character," "uninteresting," "weak." "not acceptable in any way,” “impossible," and so on. Even Samuel Butler's Erewhon was dismissed with a "will not do," and J. Cotter Morrison's The Old House by the Odu with "no good." The author of Erewhon has told in a preface to a late edition of it how he "took the book to Messrs. Chapman and Hall on May 1st, 1871, and on their rejection of it, under the advice of one who has attained the highest rank among living writers, I let it sleep till I took it to Mr. Trübner early in 1872. As regards its rejection by Messrs. Chapman and Hall, I believe their reader advised them quite wisely... I hope, if I had been their reader and the book had been submitted to myself, I should have advised them to the same effect." Whether Immaturity, by G. B. Shaw, was an early effort of the G. B. Shaw is not apparent, but the monosyllabic "No" disposed of it. But he discerned merit, on the other hand, in many writers whom he could not recommend for publication. J. C. Rickett's James Strathgeld he considered "clever, and has got stuff in it." In William Westall's Larry Lohengrin he found "the writing by no means bad, but the class of story quite out of date." Of J. Ashby Sterry's A Naughty Girl he said, "The author can do better and must be spoken to." In H. F. Lester's Hartas Maturin, "we have," he says, "a respectable murderer and his victim, who is asphyxiated. The characters are puppets of the old pattern, the story on the old lines. But there is positive ability in the writing, and the author should be strongly encouraged to try again and again, for he has aptitude. He should study real life; set himself to sketch real people." Of another MS. by the same author some months later he says, "There was promise in Hartas Maturin-a villain doctor, if I remember. Here it is not fulfilled. It is considerably weaker in the story and the writing." In his third attempt, Queen of the Hamlet, the author succeeded in pleasing, and the book was published by the firm. "The writing is of a good sort, very pleasant; the characters are well outlined, and there are some touches of quiet humor," was his comment. In H. Marriott Watson's Fair Lady Faint Heart he said appeared "More ability than usual, but it is expended in dialogue, in which there is thoughtfulness without anything to attract the reader." This book came back again revised, and was published under the title of My Lady Faint Heart, the first, I believe, of Mr. Marriott Watson's books. In more than one of Annie Thomas's books he saw something to praise, some indication of cleverness, but complained "that she had been writing in the same tone on similar topics for years rather to the taste of garrison officers and some women." Some months back Chapman and Hall published a book entitled Honoria's Patchwork, which was greatly praised by the critics, and ran through two or three editions. It appeared anonymously, but when the author sent her manuscript she remarked that some years previously she had received 'encouragement from Mr. Meredith to persevere. We find that she had then sent a novel, and Mr. Meredith ended his otherwise unfavorable report by saying, "It is good, simple writing, and the feeling is right throughout. She should persist." This lady evidently took his advice seriously and profited by it. Frequent references to the discovery of Olive Schreiner's The Story of an African Farm, and the part Mr. Meredith took in helping the author to make it more worthy of success, have been made from time to time in the Press. I find three entries in connection with Ralph Iron recorded: the first in 1881, when a manuscript entitled Saints and Sinners, by Ralph Iron, is commented on as "Plot silly. Early part well written." There is nothing to indicate that this is The Story of an African Farm, in its first state. But the title might serve for that book. On May 2nd of the next year An African Farm, by Ralph Iron, has this instruction against it, "Return to author for revision," and on August 10th it is sent again and accepted. I have seen it stated that Mr. Meredith called upon Olive Schreiner, but I think it very unlikely. I remember Miss Schreiner calling at our office by appointment to see Mr. Meredith on more than one occasion in connection |