THE FORMULA



8 New Burlington Street:

No objection to the new work
from your pen, assuming
an English subject and of modern times
sufficient to form 3 vols post 8vo
of the usual size, appearing first
in the Magazine

To purchase the copyright
of—, which new story
is to follow next in succession
to The 'Old House'

The said Richard Bentley
agrees to pay the said JS Le Fanu
and the said JS Le Fanu agrees
to accept for the said work
the sum of Two Hundred Pounds
in the said Richard Bentley's cheque
one month after the day of publication
and a final sum of One Hundred Pounds
on the sale of the work reaching
fifteen hundred copies

The copyright to revert to the said author
two years after publication

and during the said term
the said publisher shall be entitled
to print the said work in any form
he may think fit
but not under five shillings

*

Was in hopes to have published
a second edition before this
but we have had no review
which annoyed me
on your account as well
(couldn't Mrs Norton aid us
in the Times at Whitsun?)

If the new book could be ready
for the reading season
about November it would be desirable

The terms Two Hundred and Fifty Pounds
for a thousand copies

and the work Maud Ruthyn
to be entitled 'Uncle Silas'

Having gone so thoroughly
into Wylder's hand
it will be my interest
to push the new book
but it may react on your
previous book as well

I earnestly trust some milder weather
may have a beneficial effect
on your malady

*

18 [now 8) Catherine Street:

The building of a book
is like the building of a house
(there is no mystery)

The materials may be
expensive or moderate in cost
according to the taste
of the builder

A publisher's account
is less open to adulteration
(pardon the term)
than any other account

There can be no cooking or alteration
without the author knowing why

*

Took over the sheets of 'The House'
done in Dublin

Did not alter the printing and paper
but got our binders
to make the volumes look
as well as could be

(it sold very well indeed)

A book rich in talent or genius
has as much or more right
to good dress as a rich man

There should be no huddling
the type and matter together
making the pages a conglomeration
of invisible lines

*

A generous and pleasant author
to do business with
although a rather prolific letter writer

Letters answer themselves—
there in the pigeon-hole

'is word and my word are sufficient
to make the bond

and the books I shove'em
everywhere, quite h-less

What a thing it is to spot a winner:
you take a fancy, with a leg-up
whatever metal's in it

Sometimes they take to a name
from the start, sometimes not
for years