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Article THE LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF PETER PORCUPINE; ← Page 3 of 8 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Life And Adventures Of Peter Porcupine;
These difficulties and fears of the bookseller at once opened my eyes with respea to the boasted liberty of the press . I had not the ' least idea that a man's windows were in danger of being broken , if he published any thing that was not popular . I did indeed see the words , Liberty audEqualiiy , the Rights of Man , the Crimes of Kings ' , and such like ,-in most ofthe booksellers' windows ; but I did not know
that they were put there to save the glass , as a free republican Frenchman puts a cockade tri-colour in his hat to save Ids head . The work , that it was feared would draw down punishment on the publisher , did not contain one untruth , one anarchical , indecent , or irreligious expression ; and yet the bookseller feared for his windows ! For what ? because it was not popular enough . A booksellerin a despotic State
, , fears to publish a work that is Unpopular , and one in a free State fears to publish a work that is not popular enough . 1 leave it to the philosophers of' the Age of Reason' to determine in which of these States there is the most liberty of the press .
. 1 shall be told that Mr , Bradford ' s fears were groundless . It may be so ; but he ought to be a competent judge of the matter ; he must know the . extent ofthe liberty of the press better than I could . He might be mistaken , but that he was sincere appeared from his not putting his name at the bottom of the title-page . Even the « Rone to prnanu for the Democrats , ' which did not appear till about six months afterwardswas ' published for the purchasers . ' It was not till long
, after the public had fixed the seal of approbation on these pamphlets , that they were honoured with a bookseller's name . But it is time to return , and give the reader an account of my gains .- The terms on which Mr . Bradford took ' the Observations' were what booksellers call publishing it together , which is thus managed : the bookseller , takes the workprints itand defrays all expences of binding & c
, , paper , , . and the . profits are divided between , him and the author . Long after the 'Observations' were-sold off , Mr . Bradford rendered me an account of the sales , according to which my share of the profits amounted to the enormous sum ofone shilling and seven pence halfpenny , currency , ( or about eleven-pence three-farthings sterling- ) quite clear of all deductions whatsoever .
After the Observations , Mr . Bradford and I published , it together no longer . When a pamphlet was ready for the press we made a bargain for it ; and I took his note of hand , payable in one , two , or three months . That the public may know what gains I have derived from the publications tnat issued from Mr . Bradford ' s , I here subjoin a list of them , and the sums received in payment . Dots . Cent .
Observations , - o 2 t Bone to gnaw , ist part , - - 125 ; o Kick for a Bite , - " - 20 o Bone to gnaw , 2 d part , « 40 o Plain-English , - - 100 o New Year ' s Gift , - 100 o Prospea , « . - 18 O i Total 403 , as
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Life And Adventures Of Peter Porcupine;
These difficulties and fears of the bookseller at once opened my eyes with respea to the boasted liberty of the press . I had not the ' least idea that a man's windows were in danger of being broken , if he published any thing that was not popular . I did indeed see the words , Liberty audEqualiiy , the Rights of Man , the Crimes of Kings ' , and such like ,-in most ofthe booksellers' windows ; but I did not know
that they were put there to save the glass , as a free republican Frenchman puts a cockade tri-colour in his hat to save Ids head . The work , that it was feared would draw down punishment on the publisher , did not contain one untruth , one anarchical , indecent , or irreligious expression ; and yet the bookseller feared for his windows ! For what ? because it was not popular enough . A booksellerin a despotic State
, , fears to publish a work that is Unpopular , and one in a free State fears to publish a work that is not popular enough . 1 leave it to the philosophers of' the Age of Reason' to determine in which of these States there is the most liberty of the press .
. 1 shall be told that Mr , Bradford ' s fears were groundless . It may be so ; but he ought to be a competent judge of the matter ; he must know the . extent ofthe liberty of the press better than I could . He might be mistaken , but that he was sincere appeared from his not putting his name at the bottom of the title-page . Even the « Rone to prnanu for the Democrats , ' which did not appear till about six months afterwardswas ' published for the purchasers . ' It was not till long
, after the public had fixed the seal of approbation on these pamphlets , that they were honoured with a bookseller's name . But it is time to return , and give the reader an account of my gains .- The terms on which Mr . Bradford took ' the Observations' were what booksellers call publishing it together , which is thus managed : the bookseller , takes the workprints itand defrays all expences of binding & c
, , paper , , . and the . profits are divided between , him and the author . Long after the 'Observations' were-sold off , Mr . Bradford rendered me an account of the sales , according to which my share of the profits amounted to the enormous sum ofone shilling and seven pence halfpenny , currency , ( or about eleven-pence three-farthings sterling- ) quite clear of all deductions whatsoever .
After the Observations , Mr . Bradford and I published , it together no longer . When a pamphlet was ready for the press we made a bargain for it ; and I took his note of hand , payable in one , two , or three months . That the public may know what gains I have derived from the publications tnat issued from Mr . Bradford ' s , I here subjoin a list of them , and the sums received in payment . Dots . Cent .
Observations , - o 2 t Bone to gnaw , ist part , - - 125 ; o Kick for a Bite , - " - 20 o Bone to gnaw , 2 d part , « 40 o Plain-English , - - 100 o New Year ' s Gift , - 100 o Prospea , « . - 18 O i Total 403 , as