"Ben-Hur," "Vanity Fair," "Jane Eyre," and Scores of Other Masterpieces
Were "Declined With Thanks" by Several Publishers.
There used to be an old superstition that a flash of lightning would turn
milk sour. This is the sort of effect produced upon a young author by the
rejection of a manuscript by a publisher. As the author becomes older,
more successful, and more experienced, such incidents do not discourage
him, and if he sighs at all, the sigh is one of commiseration for the
publisher who cannot appreciate a really good thing when he sees it.
The owner of a rejected manuscript is in good company, for many of the
more celebrated works of literature have been summarily returned to their
authors by unappreciative publishers.
Few books published in the United States have yielded to their publishers
and authors larger returns than "Ben-Hur," by the late Lew Wallace, and
yet the manuscript had been rejected by nearly every first-class publisher
in this country before it finally was accepted by the Harpers, to whom it
was submitted for the second time.
"Rejected Addresses," by Horace and James Smith, was offered to Mr. Murray
for twenty pounds, but refused. A publisher, however, purchased it, and,
after sixteen editions, Mr. Murray gave a hundred and thirty pounds for
the right to issue a new edition. The total amount received by the authors
was more than a thousand pounds.
"Jane Eyre," by Charlotte Bronte, was, it is said, rejected by several
publishers. This, however, is rather doubtful. We believe the manuscript
was sent to Messrs. Smith, Elder & Co., in Cornhill, and there it remained
for a long time, till a daughter of one of the publishers read it and
recommended her father to publish it. The result is well known. It brought
the author fame and money.
"Eoethen," by Mr. Kinglake, was offered to twenty different houses. All
refused it. He then, in a fit of desperation, gave the manuscript to an
obscure bookseller and found the expenses of publication himself. This
also proved a success.
"Vanity Fair," that most famous work of Thackeray's, was written for
_Colburn's Magazine_, but it was refused by the publishers as having no
interest.
"The History of Ferdinand and Isabella," by Mr. Prescott, was rejected by
two of the first publishers in London, and it ultimately appeared under
the auspices of Mr. Bentley, who stated that it had more success than any
book he had ever published.
The author of "The Diary of a Late Physician" for a long time sought a
publisher, and unsuccessfully. At last he gave the manuscript to
_Blackwood's Magazine_, where it first appeared and was very successful.
The first volume of Hans Andersen's "Fairy Tales" was rejected by every
publisher in Copenhagen. Andersen had then neither name nor popularity,
and published this exquisite book at his own expense, a proceeding which
soon brought him into notoriety.
Miss Jane Austen's novels, models of writing at this day, at first met
with no success. One of them, "Northanger Abbey," was purchased by a
publisher in Bath for ten pounds. After paying this sum, he was afraid to
risk any further money in its publication, and it remained many years in
his possession before he ventured upon the speculation, which, to his
surprise, turned out very profitable.
The poet Shelley had always to pay for the publication of his poems.
The "Ode on the Death of Sir John Moore at Corunna" was written by Rev.
Charles Wolfe. It was rejected so scornfully by a leading periodical that
the author gave it to an obscure Irish paper.
Con Cregan's Legacy.