Longfellow and His Authorized British Publishers

Abstract

The fact that Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was one of the most widely read poets in the British Isles during the middle of the nineteenth century cannot be explained entirely by the popular nature of a large portion of his writings. Equally important are the circumstances connected with the publishing business, which, prior to the passage of the American international copyright act in 1891, made possible the purchase of pirated editions of his various works at a price within the range of the lower levels of the reading classes. Tennyson was indeed popular, but in the 1850's a copy of one of his books cost a good round sum. Longfellow likewise was popular, but a copy of his latest work could often be bought for a shilling. The result was inevitable. When an English woman wrote to Longfellow in 1876 protesting against American publishers, who had reprinted her works without permission, the poet replied:It may comfort you to know that I have had twenty-two publishers in England and Scotland, and only four of them ever took the slightest notice of my existence, even so far as to send me a copy of the books. Shall we call that “chivalry,” —or the other word? Some good comes of it, after all; for it is an advertisement, and surely helps what follows. It gives you thousands of readers instead of hundreds.