Books Fatal to Their Authors

by P. H. Ditchfield

He has unhappily many companions, whose names appear upon that mournful roll of luckless authors. There is the unfortunate poet Collins, who was driven insane by the disappointment attending his unremunerative toil, and the want of public appreciation of his verses. William Cole, the writer of fifty volumes in MS. of the Athenae Cantabrigienses, founded upon the same principle as the Athenae Oxonienses of Anthony Wood, lived to see his hopes of fame die, and yet to feel that he could not abandon his self-imposed task, as that would be death to him. Homer, too, has had some victims; and if he has suffered from translation, he has revenged himself on his translators. A learned writer, Joshua Barnes, Professor of Greek at Cambridge, devoted his whole energy to the task, and ended his days in abject poverty, disgusted with the scanty rewards his great industry and scholarship had attained. A more humble translator, a chemist of Reading, published an English version of the Iliad. The fascination of the work drew him away from his business, and caused his ruin. A clergyman died a few years ago who had devoted many years to a learned Biblical Commentary; it was the work of his life, and contained the results of much original research. After his death his effects were sold, and with them the precious MS., the result of so many hours of patient labour; this MS. realised three shillings and sixpence!

Fatal indeed have their works and love of literature proved to be to many a luckless author. No wonder that many of them have vowed, like Borgarutius, that they would write no more nor spend their life-blood for the sake of so fickle a mistress, or so thankless a public. This author was so troubled by the difficulties he encountered in printing his book on Anatomy, that he made the rash vow that he would never publish anything more; but, like many other authors, he broke his word. Poets are especially liable to this change of intention, as La Fontaine observes:—

"O! combien l'homme est inconstant, divers,
Foible, léger, tenant mal sa parole,
J'avois juré, même en assez beaux vers,
De renouncer à tout Conte frivole.
Depuis deux jours j'ai fait cette promesse
Puis fiez-vous à Rimeur qui répond
D'un seul moment. Dieu ne fit la sagesse
Pour les cerveaux qui hantent les neuf Soeurs."

In these days of omnivorous readers, the position of authors has decidedly improved. We no longer see the half-starved poets bartering their sonnets for a meal; learned scholars pining in Newgate; nor is "half the pay of a scavenger" [Footnote: A remark of Granger—vide Calamities of Authors, p. 85.] considered sufficient remuneration for recondite treatises. It has been the fashion of authors of all ages to complain bitterly of their own times. Bayle calls it an epidemical disease in the republic of letters, and poets seem especially liable to this complaint. Usually those who are most favoured by fortune bewail their fate with vehemence; while poor and unfortunate authors write cheerfully. To judge from his writings one would imagine that Balzac pined in poverty; whereas he was living in the greatest luxury, surrounded by friends who enjoyed his hospitality. Oftentimes this language of complaint is a sign of the ingratitude of authors towards their age, rather than a testimony of the ingratitude of the age towards authors. Thus did the French poet Pays abuse his fate: "I was born under a certain star, whose malignity cannot be overcome; and I am so persuaded of the power of this malevolent star, that I accuse it of all misfortunes, and I never lay the fault upon anybody." He has courted Fortune in vain. She will have nought to do with his addresses, and it would be just as foolish to afflict oneself because of an eclipse of the sun or moon, as to be grieved on account of the changes which Fortune is pleased to cause. Many other writers speak in the same fretful strain. There is now work in the vast field of literature for all who have the taste, ability, and requisite knowledge; and few authors now find their books fatal to them—except perhaps to their reputation, when they deserve the critics' censures. The writers of novels certainly have no cause to complain of the unkindness of the public and their lack of appreciation, and the vast numbers of novels which are produced every year would have certainly astonished the readers of thirty or forty years ago.

For the production of learned works which appeal only to a few scholars, modern authors have the aid of the Clarendon Press and other institutions which are subsidised by the Universities for the purpose of publishing such works. But in spite of all the advantages which modern authors enjoy, the great demand for literature of all kinds, the justice and fair dealing of publishers, the adequate remuneration which is usually received for their works, the favourable laws of copyright—in spite of all these and other advantages, the lamentable woes of authors have not yet ceased. The leaders of literature can hold their own, and prosper well; but the men who stand in the second, third, or fourth rank in the great literary army, have still cause to bewail the unkindness of the blind goddess who contrives to see sufficiently to avoid all their approaches to her.

For these brave, but often disheartened, toilers that noble institution, the Royal Literary Fund, has accomplished great things. During a period of more than a century it has carried on its beneficent work, relieving poor struggling authors when poverty and sickness have laid them low; and it has proved itself to be a "nursing mother" to the wives and children of literary martyrs who have been quite unable to provide for the wants of their distressed families. We have already alluded to the foundation of the Royal Literary Fund, which arose from the feelings of pity and regret excited by the death of Floyer Sydenham in a debtors' prison. It is unnecessary to record its history, its noble career of unobtrusive usefulness in saving from ruin and ministering consolation to those unhappy authors who have been wounded in the world's warfare, and who, but for the Literary Fund, would have been left to perish on the hard battlefield of life. Since its foundation £115,677 has been spent in 4,332 grants to distressed authors. All book-lovers will, we doubt not, seek to help forward this noble work, and will endeavour to prevent, as far as possible, any more distressing cases of literary martyrdom, which have so often stained the sad pages of our literary history.

In order to diminish the woes of authors and to help the maimed and wounded warriors in the service of Literature, we should like to rear a large Literary College, where those who have borne the burden and heat of the day may rest secure from all anxieties and worldly worries when the evening shadows of life fall around. Possibly the authorities of the Royal Literary Fund might be able to accomplish this grand enterprise. In imagination we seem to see a noble building like an Oxford College, or the Charterhouse, wherein the veterans of Literature can live and work and end their days, free from the perplexities and difficulties to which poverty and distress have so long accustomed them. There is a Library, rich with the choicest works. The Historian, the Poet, the Divine, the Scientist, can here pursue their studies, and breathe forth inspired thoughts which the res angusta domi have so long stifled. In society congenial to their tastes, far from "the madding crowd's ignoble strife," they may succeed in accomplishing their life's work, and their happiness would be the happiness of the community.

If this be but a dream, it is a pleasant one. But if all book-lovers would unite for the purpose of founding such a Literary College, it might be possible for the dream to be realised. Then the woes of future generations of authors might be effectually diminished, and Fatal Books have less unhappy victims.

INDEX.
Abélard, Canon of Notre Dame.
Agrippa, Henry Cornelius, astrologer.
Alexandre, Noel, Church historian.
Anderton, William, Jacobite printer.
Aretino, Pietro, satirist.
Arlotto of Padua, historian.
Arnold of Brescia, disciple of Abélard.
Arthington, pamphleteer.
Ascoli, Cecco d', poet.
Athos, Monks of Mount, Quietists.
Audra, Joseph, historian.
Bacon, Roger, philosopher.
Balzac, pretended poverty of.
Barnes, Joshua, translator.
Baronius, Caesar, Church historian.
Barrai, L'Abbé, his opinion of Fénélon.
Barrow, pamphleteer.
Bastwick, pamphleteer, attacked Laud.
Bède, Noël, controversialist.
Bekker, Balthazar, opponent of demoniacal possession.
Berruyer, Isaac Joseph, Jesuit historian.
Beverland, Adrian, poet.
Biddle, John, Socinian and Unitarian.
Billard, Pierre, satirised Jesuits.
Boccalini, Trajan, Italian satirist.
Bogarutius, anatomist.
Bohun, censor.
Bonfadio, Jacopo, Genoese historian.
Borri, Joseph Francis, charlatan.
Boursier, Jean Laurent, controversialist.
Bruccioli, Antonio, translator.
Bruno, Jordano, philosopher and atheist.
Bruto, John Michael, Florentine historian.
Buchanan, George, poet.
Burton, attacked Laud.
Bussy, Roger Rabutin de, satirist.
Campanella, Thomas, philosopher and atheist.
Carlyle, Thomas, an example of energy.
Carpzov, Samuel Benedict, libelled Rüdiger.
Carranza, Bartholomew, Archbishop of Toledo.
Cartwright, pamphleteer.
Castell, Edmund, polyglot.
Caveirac, L'Abbé, Jesuit defender.
Cinelli, John Giovanni, satirist.
Clarke, Samuel, philosopher and theologian.
Cole, William, author of Athenae Cantabrigienses.
Collins, poet.
Coppinger, pamphleteer.
Cotgrave, Randle, lexicographer.
Cowell, Dr., supporter of absolute monarchy.
Cowley, Abraham, dramatist.
Crébillon, the younger, dramatist.
Danchet, Antoine, dramatist.
Darigrand, author of L'Anti-Financier.
Darrell, John, cleric and demonologist.
Dassy, satirist.
David, Francis, theologian.
Dee, Dr., alchemist.
Defoe, Daniel, satirical writer.
Deforges, poet.
Delaune, author of A Plea for the Nonconformists.
Diderot, Denis, collaborateur of D'Alembert.
Doleman, printer.
Dolet, Etienne, printer and author.
Dominis, Antonio de, Archbishop of Spalatro.
Dort, Synod of, some of its proceedings.
Dryander, nom-de-plume of Enzinas.
Dryander, John, brother of Enzinas.
Dupin, Louis Elias, Church historian.
Durosoi, editor.
Edzardt, Sebastian, theologian.
Enzinas, Spanish translator, 23.
Estienne, see Stephanus.
Falkemberg, John de, fanatic.
Felbinger, Jeremiah, Unitarian.
Fénélon, François de la Mothe, Archbishop of Cambrai.
Fisher, John, Bishop of Rochester, opponent of royal divorce.
Fontaine, Nicolas, collaborateur of Le Maistre.
Francus, Nicholas, poet.
Fraser, "Catalogue," censor.
Frischlin, Nicodemus, poet.
Froullé, Jacques, bookseller.
Fust, John, printer.
Gacon, François, poet and satirist.
Galileo, "father of experimental philosophy."
Génébrard, Gilbert, controversialist.
Giannone, Peter, Italian historian.
Godonesche, Nicolas, engraver.
Grafton, Richard, printer of Coverdale's Bible.
Grandier, Urban, curé of London, opponent of celibacy of clergy.
Greenwood, pamphleteer.
Grotius, historian.
Hacket, pamphleteer.
Hales, John, pamphleteer.
Harsnett, Bishop, the exposer of Darrell.
Hartley, exorcist, friend of Darrell.
Haudicquer, genealogist.
Hélot, poet.
Hemmerlin, Felix, satirist.
Heron, Robert, voluminous author.
Histriomastix.
Homeric victims.
Huss, John, reformer and martyr, his writings.
Johnson, Samuel, divine, author of Julian the Apostate.
Keats, poet, Endymion cruelly reviewed.
Kelly, Edward, necromancer, friend of Dr. Dee.
Kuhlmann, Quirinus, "Prince of Fanatics".
La Beaumelle, Laurence de, Memoirs of Madame de Maintenon.
La Grange, poet.
La Peyrère, Isaac de, ethnologist.
Le Courayer, Pierre François Canon of St. Augustine.
Leighton, Dr., author of Syon's Plea against Prelacy.
Leland, archaeologist.
Le Maistre, Louis, Jansenist and translator.
Lenoir, Jean, Canon of Séez, political writer.
Liesvelt, Jacob van, Dutch printer.
Lilburne, "Honest John," bookseller and author.
Linguet, Simon, political writer, de Lisle de Sales, philosopher.
Liszinski Cazimir, Polish atheist.
Literary College, ideal.
Literary Fund, Royal.
Lufftius, John, printer of Würtemburg.
Lyra, Nicholas de, commentator, ruins his printers.
Lyser, John, advocate of polygamy.
Maffei, Raphael, his epigram on Valla.
Maggi, Jerome, Venetian statesman.
Maintenon, Madame de, Memoirs.
Mariana, John, Spanish historian.
Marolles, L'Abbé de, translator.
Marot, Clement, poet, versifier of Psalms.
Marprelate, Martin, nom-de-plume of various Puritan authors.
Melanchthon, reformer, works published by Peucer.
Molinos, Michael, Spanish theologian.
Montague, Lord, victim of Reginald Pole's book.
Montanus, Arius, translator of Polyglot Bible.
Montgomery, James, poet.
Morin, Jean, printer.
Morin, Simon, fanatic.
Nogaret, novelist.
Nordemann, follower of Kuhlmann.
Ochino, Bernardino, a Franciscan, advocate of polygamy.
Ockham, William of, "The Invincible Doctor".
Ockley, Simon, Vicar of Swavesey.
Ovid, poet, exiled by Caesar.
Page, printer of Stubbs' pamphlet.
Palearius, Antonius, "Inquisitionis Detractator."
Pallavicino, Ferrante, Italian satirist.
Palmieri, Matteo, Italian historian.
Pannartz, printer.
Paolo, Fra, see Sarpi.
Pasquier, his Letters quoted.
Pasquinades, origin of term.
Pays, French poet, quoted.
Penry, pamphleteer.
Petit, Pierre, poet.
Peucer, Caspar, doctor of medicine and Calvinist.
Pole, Sir Geoffrey, arrested by Henry VIII., escapes.
Pole, Reginald, denounced Henry VIII.
Primi, John Baptist, Count of St. Majole, historian.
Prynne, William, author of Histriomastix.
Quesnal, Pasquier, translator and theologian.
Quietism.
Reboul, Italian pamphleteer.
Reinking, Theodore, historian, condemned to eat his book.
Richer, Edmund, political essayist.
Ritson, Joseph, antiquary.
Rosières, François de, Archdeacon of Toul, historian.
Rothe, John, pretended prophet.
Rousseau, Jean Baptiste, satirist.
Rousseau, Jean Jacques, philosopher.
Rudbeck, Swedish historian.
Rudiger. John Christopher, biographer.
Sacy, de, see Le Maistre.
Salisbury, Countess of, victim of Pole's book.
Sarpi, Pietro, Venetian historian.
Savonarola, Florentine preacher.
Scaliger, his criticism of Dolet.
Schweynheym, printer.
Scioppius, Caspar, satirist.
Selden, John, author of De Decimis.
Servetus, Michael, scientist and theologian, persecuted by Calvin.
Sidney, Algernon, his manuscript a witness against him.
Starkie, Nicholas, household possessed by devils, see Darrell.
Stephanus or Stephens, Robert, Parisian printer.
Stephens, Henry, son of above, printer.
Strutt, author of English Sports and Pastimes.
Stubbs, John, opponent of Elizabeth's marriage.
Sydenham, Floyer, translator.
Théophile, poet.
Thou, de, French historian.
Thou, Frederick Augustus de, son of above.
Toland, John, freethinker.
Tutchin, John, editor of Observator, persecuted by Jeffreys.
Tyndale, William, translator of Bible and controversialist.
Udal, Nicholas, part author of Marprelate pamphlets.
Unigenitus, Papal Bull.
Urseus, Anthony, becomes insane through loss of book.
Valla, Lorenzo, Roman satirist.
Vanini, Lucilio, philosopher and atheist.
Villanovanus, nom-de-plume of Servetus.
Virgil, Bishop of Salisbury, cosmologist.
Vizetelly, publisher.
Volaterranus, see Maffei.
Voltaire, François Arouet de, satirical poem.
Wecchiettus, Jerome, theologian.
Wechel, Christian, Parisian printer.
Wechel, Andrew, son of above.
Weiser, Caspar, Swedish poet.
Wentworth, Peter, pamphleteer.
Wharton, Henry, died of overwork.
Whitchurch, Edward, printer.
Willenberg, Samuel Friedrich, advocate of polygamy.
Williams, John, poet.
Woolston, Thomas, freethinker.
Yorke, Sir John, imprisoned for Roman Catholic play performed in his
house.