Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 103, December 31, 1892 — John Shaqi
Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 103, December 31, 1892Various
General
Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 103, December 31, 1892
Various
English wit and humor -- Periodicals
"When a journal makes a call upon a good author, _and_ in the pages of
which he can gain neither honour nor renown," (why "and"?) "from which"
(namely, "honour and renown") "he would shrink" (why should he shrink
from renown and honour?) "from contributing to," (and how can he
contribute to honour and renown?) "that journal ought to be subjected to
careful scrutiny." "From which he would shrink from contributing to,"
what have we here? Surely it is the grammar that needs careful scrutiny,
and surely, in no circumstances, could a lofty "rate of pay" be
conferred on a style of this description.
It is natural to reflect that a writer in this unconventional manner has
mainly to thank himself for any want of success which he, and we, may
regret; and that reflection, again, suggests the case of BROWZER, the
Man who would bring an Action for Libel.
BROWZER had a small patrimony, any amount of leisure, and a good deal of
ambition. He liked the society of literary gentlemen, he envied their
buoyant successes, such as being "interviewed,", and sorrowed with their
sorrows, such as being reviewed. He listened to their artless gossip,
and fancied himself extremely knowing. In these circumstances of
temptation, BROWZER fell, as many better men have done, and wrote a
Novel. He drew on the recollections of his suburban youth; he revived
the sorrows of his sole flirtation; he sketched his aunts with a
satirical hand, and he produced a packet of manuscript weighing about
7-1/2 lbs. This manuscript he sent, first, to a literary man, whose name
he had seen in the papers, with a long and fulsome letter, asking for an
opinion. The parcel came back next day, accompanied by a lithographed
form of excuse. BROWZER denounced the envy and arrogance of mankind, and
sent his parcel to a publisher. He carefully set little traps, with
pieces of adhesive paper, every here and there, to detect carelessness
on the side of the reader. The parcel came back in a week, with a note
of regret that the novel was not suitable. Only one of BROWZER'S pieces
of adhesive paper had been removed, but the others were carefully
initialled. A modest author would have concluded that his opening
chapters condemned him, but BROWZER'S wrath against mankind only burned
the more fiercely. He removed his traps, however, and sent _Wilton's
Wooing_ the round of the Row. It always came back, "returning like the
peewit," at uncertain intervals. It was really a remarkable manuscript,
for it was written in black ink, blue ink, red ink, pencil, and
stylograph; moreover, most of it was inscribed on the margins, the
original copy having been erased, in favour of improved versions.
Finally BROWZER discovered a publisher who would take _Wilton's Wooing_,
on conditions that the author should pay L150 for preliminary expenses
(exclusive of advertising, for which a special charge was to be made),
would guarantee the sale of 300 copies, and would accept half profits on
the net results of the transaction.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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