A. Schmidt is one of the students of the subject who believes there is evidence to show that, according to the usual practice, the author received compensation from the publisher not in the form of a royalty, but as an advance payment on the delivery of the manuscript or on the publication of the book.[200]
Among other quotations he cites the following:
Quamvis tam longo possis satur esse libello,
Lector, adhuc a me disticha pauca petis,
Sed Lupus usuram puerique diaria poscunt,
Lector, solve. Taces, dissimulasque? Vale.
The reader, however much pleased with the poem given, is supposed to be expecting a few additional verses; but the usurer Lupus is calling upon the poet for his money, and the poet’s children are crying for bread. (Therefore) O reader, make payment (to me, in need, from whom you have received benefit). (What!) You make no response. You pretend (not to understand). Farewell!—(“I have no use for you,” would be the modern slang.)
The passage presents difficulties, and has been variously interpreted. Schmidt reads for “solve” “salve.” I base my reading on the text given by Haenny.
In another epigram he notes that the edition of his Xenii could be bought from his publisher, Tryphon, for four sesterces (the equivalent of about twelve and a half cents).
He grumbles at the price as being too high, contending that Tryphon could have secured a fair profit from half the amount. He adds: “These verses, O reader, you will, however, find convenient for presents for your friends, at least if your purse is as scantily furnished as is my own.”