_Answer._ The great House of Hunt, Parry, & Co., which made heaven
and earth.
In controversies with publishers, the author is at a signal
disadvantage by reason of the connection of publishers with the press.
Publishers have the entrée of the newspapers by their advertising, and
all in the way of business, it is the easiest thing in the world to
give public opinion a tilt in the desired direction without the least
suspicion on the part of the reader, or any more collusion on the part
of the editor than is implied in a good-natured relinquishment of a
few lines of editorial space. Here, we will say, is a house which
advertises to the extent of hundreds, perhaps thousands of dollars in
a single paper. In connection with an extraordinary advertisement,
it hands to the editor an extraordinary paragraph, celebrating its
more extraordinary virtues. The advertisement goes in among the
advertisements, and the eulogy goes in among the editorials and becomes
the voice of the paper. Nobody is hurt, and the firm is greatly helped
in building up for itself name and fame. When the Athenian newspapers
glow with reflections upon the inability of authors to understand the
details of publishing and the unimpeached and unimpeachable honor of
the house of Hunt, Parry, & Co., not half a dozen readers suspect
that those reflections are anything but the spontaneous tribute of
a grateful people to the eminent firm in question. Nobody suspects
that behind all the glitter and glory some pestiferous little author
is poking an inquisitive finger in among those details, is indeed
questioning that unimpeached and unimpeachable honor, and that this
beating of gongs is but Chinese strategy on the part of the attacked,
to scare away the impertinent foe. I can make no avowal on this head,
having nothing but internal evidence to go upon: but applying the rules
of Scriptural exegesis, it seems to me that we attribute to the four
Gospels a divine origin on less evidence than we may attribute to these
eulogies a common origin.
For instance, during that portion of the sidereal year known throughout
the solar system as Jubilee week, the press of Athens burned with
enthusiasm for the house of Hunt, Parry, & Co.
"The broadside advertisement," says one, "with which the renowned
publishing house of Messrs. Hunt, Parry, & Co. salute the country in
this jubilee time on another page of this morning's Post, will excite
universal attention and remark. It details the literary achievements
of this enterprising firm during the last year and a half in a form
that is both novel and impressive. Where are the publishers on this
continent who within that term have presented to the reading public
works from [how many?] different authors, nearly all of whom are living
celebrities? It would be glory enough for any firm to have announced
original works from less than one fourth that number of well-known
authors. Read the glittering roll of names as they are presented. In
poetry, L., T., L., B., and W. Of novelists, D., T., S., H., H., R.,
and G. And of essayists, travellers, writers on natural history and
science, such a shining company of men and women of genius as will
make book-shelves brilliant for all time to come. But these publishers
have not compromised quality with quantity. They hold up to their high
standard in every essay in which they engage. Nor are they in any sense
such devotees of Mammon as to think it possible to build a lasting
reputation on anything less substantial than true honor in dealing as
well as indisputable worth in selection.
"Their shelves and counters are an embarrassment of literary riches.
Such a display of the ripest fruits of culture, taste, judgment,
enterprise, and business sagacity cannot be surpassed. Their wonderful
march to their eminent and leading position as publishers has given an
excellent example to the country in refining and solidifying the common
rules of business in their own field, and elevating and dignifying
a branch of trade than which not one is clothed with nobler and
purer associations. From this house, also, go forth a quarterly, two
monthlies, and a weekly magazine, any one of which would add lustre to
the repute of the publishers. None but sound and sweet literature comes
from hence. It is the aim of the firm to keep the fountain clear from
which such incessant streams of influence are to flow. American authors
contribute in large store to the rich treasury of its productions,
while foreign, and especially British writers supply in large degree
the stores of reading, which are the recreation and delight of
cultivated people everywhere."