REMUNERATION OF AUTHORS.
(Vol. viii., p. 81.)
Some time ago I suggested, in the columns of "N. & Q.," a collection which might prove interesting, of the remuneration received by authors for their works, sending my first instalment thereof. A correspondent (W. R.) has since contributed to the stock; and I now beg to add a few more cases which have lately occurred to me. In the instances of plays, &c., I have confined myself to the sums paid for the copyright; any remuneration accruing to the author from the performance, a share of the profit, benefit, &c. &c. being too diffuse to bring into a tabular form; and, in the case of works published while that servile system was in vogue, I have not attempted to record the amounts paid for dedications by the inflated "patrons," nor even those raised by subscription, except in one or two cases, where such was (which was rarely the case) a genuine transaction:
| Title of Work. | Author. | Price. | Publisher. | Authority. | |||
| Phædra | Edmund Smith | 60l. | Lintot. | Dr. Johnson. | |||
| The Wanderer | Savage | 10l. 10s. | Ditto. | ||||
| Beggar's Opera | Gay | 400l. | Spence. | ||||
| Poems | Ditto | 1000l. | Subscription | Dr. Johnson. | |||
| Translation of eight books of the Odyssey, and all the notes. | W. Broome | 600l. | Paid by Pope | Ditto. | |||
| Ditto of four books of Ditto | Fenton | 300l. | Ditto | Ditto. | |||
| Edition of Shakspeare | Pope | 217l. 12s. | Tonson | Ditto. | |||
| Amynta and Theodora | Mallet | 120l. | Vaillant. | Ditto. | |||
| The Poor Gentleman | G Colman, sen. | 150l. | R. B. Peake. | ||||
| Who wants a Guinea? | Ditto | 150l. | Ditto. | ||||
| Tales from Shakspeare | Charles Lamb Mary Lamb | 63l. | Himself. | ||||
| Contributions for two years to the London Magazine. | Charles Lamb | 170l. | T. Moore, Lord J. Russell. | ||||
| The King of Prussia's works, translation of | Thos. Holcroft | 1200l. | Galt. | ||||
| Exchange no Robbery | Theodore Hook | 60l. | R. H. D. Barham. | ||||
| Sayings and Doings (1st series) | Ditto | 600l. | Colburn | Ditto. | |||
| Ditto (2nd series) | Ditto | 1050l. 150l. 200l. | Ditto | Ditto. | |||
| Ditto (3rd series) | Ditto | 1050l. | Ditto | Ditto. | |||
| Births, Marriages, and Deaths | Ditto | 600l. | Ditto | Ditto. | |||
| Editorship of Colburn's New Monthly | Ditto | 400l. per annum. | Ditto | Ditto. | |||
| Rejected Addresses | J. and H. Smith | 131l. after 16th edition | Murray | H. Smith. | |||
| Country Cousins A Trip to Paris Air Ballooning A Trip to America |
| James Smith. | 1000l. |
| Paid for by C. Matthews for his Entertainments. |
| Himself. |
Alexander Andrews.