The Popular Science Mont lily. 301 



NEW YORK, April j, 1872. 



MY DEAR SPENCER : A thousand thanks for your favour 

 of March i3th, with article on Study of Sociology inclosed. 

 I was beginning to be worried about it, and was on the 

 point of telegraphing you to telegraph me as to what you 

 would do. You did wisely in sending it, and I decided 

 upon our course two minutes after getting it. 



I determined to have a monthly at once, and in time to 

 open with this article. It was vital that these articles be 

 not exposed to the temptation to reprint them in pam- 

 phlets. Two houses have gone into the business; they 

 are printing series of scientific tracts at a shilling, and have 

 both announced your volume. They will seize upon the 

 first thing offered. We have secured the " Specialized Ad- 

 ministration " only by advertising it almost daily ourselves 

 as a pamphlet, to get time to issue it as a book. Remem- 

 ber this : you have become popular here, and are therefore 

 in more peril than before. The courtesies of the trade 

 yielding to priority and recognizing the right of a publisher 

 to the works of his author have a certain value with us, 

 but if once broken through the spell dissolves that author 

 is not protected. So-and-So has gone in upon his works, 

 and they are now open. This has been done over and over 

 again, and it will not do to leave your things lying around. 

 When I could not get the use of another periodical, and we 

 had to fall back upon the newspapers, it became indispen- 

 sable to publish as a pamphlet. I have accepted the situa- 

 tion and have done so with additions. 



I received your article less than a week ago. We have 

 started a monthly of 128 pages. The first part of it is now 

 printing; the last pages will be closed up to-morrow, and 

 we will have it out in five days more. Of course, we had 

 to go in on selected articles ; but with yours for original 

 and a translation by my sister from the French, a short 

 article by myself, and fragments by my brother, we shall 



