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Studies in Life and Literature with Introductory Sonnets
Studies in Life and Literature with Introductory Sonnets Author:Charles T. Lusted Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: to the world as Lazy Literature. These watery productions, if not sheltered beneath the mantle of great names, would meet with little sale and small commendation... more ». It is far more necessary for the true and accepted author of genius to be always at his best, than for those who rank so infinitely below him. The accepted author has a reputation to sustain; the non-accepted has none to sustain, or to lose. Instead, he has one to win ; and if he does not advance he may take large comfort in the knowledge that he cannot recede. With the known author of genius it is entirely different. He has no right to publish an indifferent book. When he is guilty of performing that sordid criminal feat, he deceives the public by passing forgeries and base coin into circulation. His name, vulgarly, spells money. It always sells a book, however poor; and if by his former works he has honestly displayed to the public that he is a great writer ; by afterwards publishing one of no merit he virtually becomes a highway robber; but one who robs with more than the exquisite taste and gentlemanly habits of a Macheath, and without his personality being visible or compromised. By the liberty of the English press any great author has a full and independent right to publish any worthless book of his workmanship with his name on the title-page ; but if he were honest he would recognisethat he has but little moral right to throw a worthless book into the market, shouting professionally through a thousand book shops and as many papers,' Buy, buy!'—chuckling and whispering at the same moment to himself,—' But there is nothing in the book worth buying.' By writing and publishing on this felonious system he abuses his own understanding, insults the public, and is in danger of corrupting both. He wastes time, talents, ...« less