THE EXGLISH COPYRIGHT COMMISSION. 177 



case of any one who has been preparing a work, let us sav upon com- 

 parative anatomy, which has probably occupied him for a "great many 

 years. He has himself had to make a great number of laborious dissec- 

 tions and to have them drawn, and he or his publisher has had to invest 

 a great deal of money in illustrations. He brings out his book. That 

 book, if it is well done, will preserve its value for a century. At the 

 present moment Cuvier's " Ossemens Fossiles," which I think has been 

 published for about half a century, is in many respects as valuable a 

 book as ever it was, and is as often consulted as ever it was. If when 

 such a book as that is published, or within a short time after it is pub- 

 lished, anybody has a right to republish it, the practical effect is that 

 the text will be copied, at probably a thousandth part of the expendi- 

 ture and time required for its original production, then the illustrations 

 will be copied ; and the natural result will be that the reproduction of 

 the book will be sold at a price far less than that at which the original 

 book was sold, the consequence of which is that the author and the 

 publisher of the latter alike have their interests ruined ; and the practi- 

 cal result would be that no publisher would take such a book ; in fact, 

 he could not do it, he would be liable at any moment to be undersold. 

 That is true of the whole class of botanical works, zoological works, 

 anatomical works, and the great mass of illustrated works having rela- 

 tion to physical science. 



Q. Carrying on the thought which you have expressed, what, in your 

 opinion, would be the practical result upon all this important class of 

 works which you have described of either abrogating or materially 

 diminishing the term of copyright so far as the public is concerned ? 



A. I think that it would simply stop their production, and that 

 exactly in proportion to their value and usefulness. The more such 

 works were sought after, and the better they were, and the more large- 

 ly they were in demand, and suited themselves to the wants of the time, 

 the more certainly would they be pirated, and I do not see how any- 

 body could afford to produce them. 



Q. Might it not be that some publisher in a very large way of busi- 

 ness might find that he could impose his own terms both on the author 

 and the public ? 



A. I quite think that that is the inevitable tendency of the aboli- 

 tion or a great diminution of the term of copyright ; and I would justify 

 that belief by what happens at the present time in the United States ; 

 I myself am paid upon books which are published there ; my American 

 publisher remits me a certain percentage upon the selling price of the 

 books there, and that without any copyright which can protect him ; 

 but then I am informed that the practice of all the great houses in 

 America (there are some three or four large publishing-houses with 

 very great capital), if anybody publishes one of their books, is to pub- 

 lish a largely cheaper edition at any cost, and they would make any 

 pecuniary sacrifice rather than not cut out a rival. The great houses 



VOL. XIV. — 12 



