ABSTRACT
Source: The Author’s Handbook: a complete guide to the art and system of publishing on commission (London: E Churton, Commission Publishers, 1844) “To thee, oh Press! let despots quail, Oppressors crouch, and tyrants rail, And own thy righteous sway; O’er thy predestinated course, Religion’s handmaid! virtue’s nurse! Holds thy appointed way, Till every soul thy ‘light within,’ Chase every form of grief and sin, From every heart’s recess; Thy goal is reached – thy race is run, The cause of God – the rights of man, Shall crown ‘the Press! the Press!’” FOR the promotion of literature, the independence of literary men, and the benefit of the reading community, no system is more admirably adapted than that which I shall endeavour to explain in the few following pages – “Publishing by Commission.” Its advantages are little understood, the facilities of its operation still less: and yet, of what importance it is to the unknown struggling author to be fully aware of the means by which the production of his genius may be submitted to the impartial tribunal of public opinion. How many a writer of eminent ability – how many a work of great and striking merit – has been doomed to oblivion, by the capricious verdict of an interested publisher, whose judgment has, in all probability, been biassed by his own speculations, and not unfrequently formed without any reference to the manuscript placed before him. If the publishers keep, as they have been sometimes said to do, the keys of the Temple of Fame, it must be allowed that in the case of young candidates for admission, they too often show themselves but surly janitors, seldom opening the door to any new comer who does not bring with him strong letters of recommendation. It would occupy far more space than the limits of this little Book admit of, to detail the numerous instances of those, who, after the rejection of their works by the publishers, have at length, urged on by the consciousness of their own mental resources, entered – unassisted – on the great arena of literary contest, and made for themselves, an imperishable name. The freest of all republics is the Republic of Letters; and merit, if once submitted to the public decision, is sure of meeting its reward.
