"Without Flourish of
Trumpets"
In his advertisements of what he calls "Mosher Books" Mr. T. B. Mosher
tells us that "For a dozen years the most artistic volumes at their price
that have been issued in America have been published, not from New York or
Boston, nor even in Philadelphia or Chicago, but in Portland, Maine. In
that little city Thomas B. Mosher has been printing, without flourish of
trumpets or wide advertising, volume after volume which in artistic
excellence are not excelled by the issues of any publishing house in the
World. Then, too, Mosher has reprinted only the Gems of literature that
have been declared of the first water—Gems that are beyond objection
Jewels of the World's treasury of brilliant writing. We may also assert
that the question of Gain has been secondary in Mosher's
calculations." "Suppose, when now the house is dumb, "He who takes what isn't his'n
Mosher modestly calculates "That's
so!"
"I think it demonstrable," he says,
"that work like This must of necessity be founded upon other than mere
money values."
Mr. Mosher is right. It is founded on
brazen literary piracy.
"More deeply than ever," he says, "I
feel the responsibility of my individuality in bookmaking."
Book-stealing would have been nearer
the mark. His conscience must have tickled him when, after gratuitously
Mosherising Mr. Andrew Lang's writings, he quotes Mr. Lang's "Ghosts in
the Library," beginning:—
It would be rather awkward for Mr.
Mosher, certainly!
When lights are out, and ashes fall,
Suppose their ancient owners come
To claim our spoils of shop and stall!"
We ought to mention that Mosher
announces that he sends his catalogue to "any place that can be reached by
mail"; also, that he advertises it in this country. In fact, it was some
remarks of Mr. Andrew Lang that led us to ask one or two other English
authors if Mr. Mosher was selling their "Gems" and "Jewels" with their
consent.
Mr. Andrew Lang on Mosher
Having had occasion to send Mr. Lang
of copy of the P. C. with reference to some other matter, in his
reply he says:—
"Thanks for the P. C., but I
hoped you were studying Mosher in it. To me it seems unaccountable that
decent British serials should publish his advertisements and that he
should be allowed to sell in this country what he steals from me… The
illegality and impudence are intolerable!"
In another letter Mr. Lang says that
one of Mosher the Pirate's copies of one of his (Mr. Lang's) books had
been innocently offered to him by an English bookseller. We say
"innocently," because it is illegal to sell these pirated editions
anywhere in the United Kingdom or the Colonies.
As the Mosher books are principally by
British writers, we wrote to a few of them, and give their replies.
Mr. George Meredith and Mosher
"Dear Sir,—In reply to yours, Mr.
Mosher, of Portland, Maine, printed and issued a poem of mine without
sending request and without payment. The book was well presented."
We fancy Mr. Meredith is not aware how
it was presented.
"The Modern Love, and Other Poems" in
the Mosher pirated edition include, he has the insolence to say, the
"simple and fresh work" of the author's earlier years rather than "the
contortions and grotesque affectations of his later style." This is adding
insult to injury in a style most brazen and Mosherish, quite on a par with
his "In our (i.e., Mosher's) opinion Andrew Lang's 'Helen of Troy'
will be found a very lasting production, second only to William Morris's
splendid version."
Mr. Lang and other authors may be
interested to know that Mosher's "Limited Edition" of his books run to 925
copies, and "there is also a Japan vellum edition," and that "delivery to
any part of the world is guaranteed" by Mosher, who reserves the right to
"put up" the price when he likes.
Mr. Maurice Hewlett and Mosher
Mr. Maurice Hewlett says: "Mosher
stole from me in '96, and he has gone on stealing since. Of course, he
paid nothing, but with sublime impudence he once sent me a copy of his
plunder!"
"Vernon Lee" and Mr. Mosher
"Vernon Lee" says: "Mr. Mosher has
reprinted repeatedly from my works, and always without
authorisation or payment. He did, indeed, send me a copy of an essay, but
has not even done that for other books. Two or three years ago I had
occasion to remonstrate with an Oxford bookseller for offering for sale
(not secondhand) Mosher reprints of works by my friend the late
Walter Pater."
In some instances, where Mosher was
probably not sure whether an American copyright existed or not, he has
asked permission; but the fact remains, and, as we have already pointed
out,
Booksellers and Private Book-buyers Should Note
that this Portland Pirate is offering and selling scores of editions which
it is illegal to sell, or buy, or advertise for sale in any part of the
British Empire. When a "Mosher" edition is offered, the only safe thing to
do is to write to the English publisher of the work in question and ask if
it is authorised.
Mosher's editions include a dozen of
R. L. Stevenson's, as many of Swinburne's, as many of Walter Pater's, as
many by William Morris, in addition to works by authors already mentioned
and many other—more than two hundred.
Mr. Mosher is an Idealist. "Rest
assured," he says, "in Idealism there remains an abiding refuge which the
Soul of Man has ever sought, that in Idealism alone we find justified and
made perfect our faith in the incompleteness of the world as we see it,
and in the ultimate completeness of the Divine Plan."
Mosher helping to complete the Divine
Plan by pirating English copyrights is sublime! No wonder he feels "more
deeply than ever the responsibility of my individuality in book-making, if
such a phrase be permitted, and that on this short day of Frost and Sun if
I have accomplished anything at all its worth issues out of the Ideal
lying beyond Reality." He adds: "To what conclusion would I therefore
bring you?"
Well, the conclusion we have come to, anyway, is that our English
authors get the "Frost" and Thomas B. Mosher basks in the golden
"Sunshine," raking in the shekels while he sells their sparkling "Gems"
and "Jewels"—one of the latest being an edition of 1,225 copies of
"The Hound of Heaven." Doubtless The Publishers' Association will help by
calling the attention of their agents to Mr. Mosher and his works at
Portland, Maine—not Portland, England—thought that well be right
if
Always had to got to prison!"