Contemporary Copyrights
The late Mr. Tegg, the publisher in Cheapside, gave the following list
of remunerative payments to distinguished authors in his time; and he is
believed to have taken considerable pains to verify the items:
Fragments of History, by Charles Fox, sold by Lord Holland, for 5000
guineas. Fragments of History, by Sir James Mackintosh, 500l.
Lingard's History of England, 4683l. Sir Walter Scott's Bonaparte was
old, with the printed books, for 18,000l.; the net receipts of
copyright on the first two editions only must have been 10,000l. Life
of Wilberforce, by his sons, 4000 guineas. Life of Byron, by Moore,
4000l. Life of Sheridan, by Moore, 2000l. Life of Hannah More,
2000l. Life of Cowper, by Southey, 1000l. Life and Times of George
IV., by Lady C. Bury, 1000l. Byron's Works, 20,000l. Lord of the
Isles, half share, 1500l. Lalla Rookh, by Moore, 3000l. Rejected
Addresses, by Smith, 1000l. Crabbe's Works, republication of, by Mr.
Murray, 3000l. Wordsworth's Works, republication of, by Mr. Moxon,
1050l. Bulwer's Rienzi, 1600l. Marryat's Novels, 500l. to 1500l.
each. Trollope's Factory Boy, 1800l. Hannah More derived 30,000l.
per annum for her copyrights, during the latter years of her life.
Rundell's Domestic Cookery, 2000l. Nicholas Nickleby, 3000l.
Eustace's Classical Tour, 2100l. Sir Robert Inglis obtained for the
beautiful and interesting widow of Bishop Heber, by the sale of his
journal, 5000l.
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