Little is known of the remuneration of authors until the days of Dr. Samuel Johnson. Before his time, literary men, as a rule, depended on the generosity of patrons for their means of support, and as an acknowledgment of their obligations, dedicated their works to them. The dedications were frequently made in most fulsome terms. The position of the writer was certainly a mean one; indeed, it might fitly be pronounced degrading; when he had exhausted his possibilities of patronage, he starved. It was Johnson--a giant in the world of letters--who broke through the objectionable custom, and taught the author to look to the reading public for support, and not to a wealthy patron. It is not until the days of Samuel Johnson that the subject of literary earnings is of much importance; yet we may with advantage glance at a few payments made prior to his age. We do not know the amount Shakespeare received for his plays, but it is certain that his connection with the theatre in London in a few years realised for him a fortune, and, at a comparatively early age, enabled him to return to his own town, a man of independent means. Oldys, in one of his manuscripts, says that "Hamlet" was sold for £5; but he does not mention his authority for the statement. It appears, from a publication of Robert Greene's, in 1592, the price of a drama was twenty nobles, or about £6 13s. 4d. of current coin. Small must have been the literary pay of Spenser, Butler, and Otway, since they feared to die for want of the simple necessaries of life. Milton sold "Paradise Lost" for £5 down, to be followed by £15 if a second and third large editions were required. The first edition consisted of 1,500 copies, and in two years 1,300 were sold. The balance was not disposed of until five years later. This powerful poem, when given to the world, met with some adverse criticism. The poet Waller wrote of it thus: "The old, blind schoolmaster, John Milton, hath published a tedious poem on the fall of man; if its length be not considered a merit, it hath no other." A greater poet than Waller--Dryden--recognised its merits, and said: "Undoubtedly, 'Paradise Lost' is one of the greatest, most noble, and most sublime poems which either this age or nation has produced." Dryden wrote the following epigram referring to Homer, Virgil, and Milton:-- "Three poets--in three distant ages born-- Greece, Italy, and England did adorn; The first in loftiness of thought surpassed, The next in majesty, in both the last. The force of Nature could no further go; To make a third, she joined the former two." Milton's poem has been praised by the greatest critics, and it is still very much read. It appears in many forms, and the annual sale is extremely large. Routledge's popular edition sells at the rate of about a couple of thousand a year; and we suppose the sale of other editions is equally great.