Agent.
Mr. C. Mitchell, Newspaper Press Directory Office, Red Lion Court, Fleet Street.
CONSTITUTION.
The Athenæum Institute is legally incorporated as a Mutual Benefit Society, and the rank and public status of its Vice-Presidents, Honorary Directors, Trustee, and Treasurer, and the well-known character of its business Directors, present a security to Authors, Journalists, and all connected with Literature, that it is based on sound principles, and will be conducted with fidelity and honour.
It consists of two classes of Supporters.
Non-Participating or Honorary Subscribers, who, it is hoped, may include The Royal Family and great Officers of the state, on account of the political and moral influences of Authors; Noblemen and Men of Fortune who have manifested a marked predilection for Literature; Authors of Fortune and others sympathising with, and interested in the labours of literary men.
Participating Subscribers, consisting of Professional Authors, and that large mass of writers who produce the current literature of the age in Works of Science, Imagination, Education, and the Periodical and Newspaper Press of the Empire.
The Constitution of the Society is such that the general body of its members hold the directing power. The Board of Business Directors is elected by it, and their powers and duties, as well as those of the officers, are clearly defined by the laws and rules of the Institute, which are in strict conformity with the elaborate requirements of the Friendly Societies' Act (14th and 15th Victoria, chap. 115.).
The Qualification of Membership is authorship in some shape, but a large and liberal will be the most just interpretation of the term. As close a definition as can be given perhaps is, that it intends to include all who use the pen with an intellectual aim, women as well as men. The printed forms (which can be had on application) will show more minutely what is required to constitute membership.
REVENUE.
The distinguishing feature of the Institute is its applying the principle of Life Assurance in all its transactions.