TAIT'S MAGAZINE—CHEAP LITERATURE.

THE most important literary event of the New Year, so fares it hat- yet proceeded, is the announcement that the price of Tait's Maga- zine, instead of half-a-crown, will " henceforth be one shilling." In the notice advertising the fact, and in a more elaborate article on " Cheap and Dear Periodicals," the statistics, and perhaps the ra- tionale of the subject, are investigated by the vigorous Scotchinan. The Age, says Tait, is determined on cheapness ; and, except in the higher order of periodical literature, the determination is complied with. " Waverley Novels, Cabinet Cycloptedias, Edinburgh Libra- ries, and some scores more of similar works, published in monthly parts at cheap prices," have superseded the old-fashioned expensive quarto and octavo. In the more popular class of periodical litera- ture, Penny Magazines and Chambers's Journals have sprung up, and been eminently successful, from their unprecedented lowness of price. What then, says Tait, is to hinder the success of a monthly publication conducted on the same principles? Few, very few, will pay for high-priced periodicLls : if they read them at all, they read them from the circulating library; and even among this class of readers, the purchase of the cheaper works is fast superseding the loan of the dearer. The difference between the two is out of all pro- portion (as he shows by a series of tables); even the circulation of the oldest is falling; no exertion on the part of the newest and most popular can make them rise, if it can keep them stationary. The expenses, he goes on to argue, of editors and contributors, of setting types and preparing for press, are just the same, whether the number printed be one hundred or one million ; the cost of paper, printing at press, and sewing, stitching, or binding, is materially cheaper when many copies have to be produced instead of few. " What then remains ?—Ourselves shall still remain." In future, a Magazine conducted without fear and without favour, advocat- ingg• the cause of the People, and containing articles equal if not superior to the very best of its rivals (if we except a few of the capital ones of Blackwood, and such as the editor of the Metropo- litan himself furnishes), will in future be from 250* to 150 per cent. cheaper than those rivals ;—prodigious ! what a discount ! " The price of Tait's Magazine," we again repeat the wonder, " will henceforth be one shilling." Heartily, very heartily, we wish him success.

But our hopes and wishes surpass our expectations. To discuss the subject in its whole extent, would take us over a vast field : at present we shall tax the patience of the reader only for fifteen minutes, whilst we endeavour to explain the rationale of cheap- ness ; to note where, in its vulgar sense, it can be applied to lite- rature, and where not; and finally, to hazard some conjectures on its effects upon the literature and character of the age.

In the first place, what is cheapness? The gaping multitude reply by their actions,—that where much (to appearance) is given in return for little. A gentleman, dissatisfied at the low rate of interest afforded by the Funds, is tempted by an enticing ad-

vertisement to invest his capital in a "not-speculative company," or " a well-secured house property," which is to yield some un- conscionable rate of interest ; and who but he ? STLLA was sur-

named the Fortunate : he is both fortunate and prudent : his

friends are doomed to listen to self-panegyrics on his wisdom and his luck, at which the ignorant stare, and the experienced smile, but forbear to contradict him, knowing that time will do it with a vengeance. Of a bubble company it is needless to speak ; but let us see the upshot of a lucky speculation in cheap houses.

Quarter-day comes round : the plodder has his divivends in his pocket : " the " fortunate and prudent " calls upon his tenants, and finds them not at home ; he calls again, and again, and again, with a similar result: indignant, he determines upon a seizure : his myrmidons arrive when the birds have flown ; he has the broker's charges to pay, and, if he proceeds, the lawyer's bill. Or some " black sheep" pulls down the fixtures, dilapidates the house, locks the street-door, puts the key in his pocket, and, in professional parlance, " gives the landlord a benefit;" finally, the lover of excessive cheapness finds that he has not only lost his in- terest, but his principal too. Even where no " bargain" is aimed at, it will in the long run be found that the different rates of interest are more nominal than real ; that when the loss of rent or interest, the various charges of various agents, the trouble and expenses from which no pro- perty is altogether freed, and the costs of transfer, are taken into account, there is equality in investments if in nothing. else. A similar observation holds good with regard to manufactures : in many things the present cheapness is more seeming than real. Silks, say the ladies, are not made as they used to be ; shirts have degenerated, like the men; the quality, in short, has deteriorated in some proportion to the fall in price, excepting where machinery has diminished the expense of making the article. And this brings us to the two main points of the question,—what is cheap-

• 'File price of the New Monthly is 3s, 6d.; of most of the others, 2s. 6d!

ness, applied to literature ? how can the cost of production be di- minished ? The first is soon answered. That only is cheap which is excel- lent of its kind, whatever may be the nominal price paid for it. All Plescznisnis splendid reprints of standard authors are very

cheap. The editions of the Waverley Novels, of BYRON'S works, and many other republications, are cheap. The Penny Magazine

is cheap of its kind ; for though the style seldom rises above com-

monplace, and the tone is not vigorous, the Magazine supplies a vast quantity of popular information, in the shape most desi- &rated, namely facts ; and its wood-cuts are admirable. The Penny Cyclopaulia. though nominally dearer, is really cheaper : the literary execution is better, the information greater, more va- rious, and more condensed. Chambers 's Journal, we opine, is the

cheapest popular publication of' the day ; it has few cuts, or none ; but the quantity of matter given is great ; the selections are en- tertaining, and made with judgment ; the original articles are the result of shrewd and close observation of homely life, expressed in

a style plain and popular. Of the other serial works which Tait alleges as examples, the Cabinet Library is a painstaking and re- spectable publication. The cheapness of Lardner's Cyclopedia is a variable matter : the Preliminary Discourse of HERSCHEL, and one or two other treatises, would indeed be cheap if far dearer :

but we apprehend that any definite or indefinite number of scores of historical compilations, in pretty-shaped duodecimos, would be

very dear when put in competition with a quarto of GIBBON or an

octavo of IIALLAM, whatever might be the respective rates of cost. But as a work may be dear though nominally cheap, it by no means Inflows that because its price is high its quality is excel-

lent. Here, we imagine, Tait's logic fails. Several of the peri- odicals he enumerates would be dear at any price. They are drooping from want of innate vigour, not from want of external support; and they will shortly die, for they fulfil not the conditions of their living. They address themselves to no one; they repre- sent no one; they teach nothing ; they touch nobody ; they are neither of this nor of any other time ; but hang between heaven and earth, belonging to neither, rejected of' both. We proceed to the next point. It is obvious, that for a literary publication to be produced fin. any length of time, the cost of its production must be paid. No matter how extensive its circulation may be ; its price must be somewhat more than the cost of paper, press-work,* stitching', and distribution by venders, or the editing and composing + will be an absolute loss, thought the circulation were millions instead of hundreds. If the price be the minutest fraction less than those indispensable charges, enlarging circula- tion merely enlarges loss. But if' a gain as minute as filmy can conceive attends upon a single number, then a very extensive sale may remunerate the speculator; though, as we have heard, in the case of the Penny Cyclopedia 80,000 copies are necessary to clear the actual expenses. But it behoves the speculator in these mat- ters very carefully to consider the nature of the work in which he is embarking. Mere cheapness is far from being the only item. There are cases where the most extraordinary reductions in price would not permanently increase the sale a hundred, perhaps not one. Of this class are works that address themselves to peculiar faculties or particular pursuits. A publication which addresses itself merely to reasoners, and whose perusal requires sustained and continuous powers of thought; a work that aims at conveying scientific or professional information ; a periodical which should endeavour to minister to the higher intellectual faculties—to the nice perception of beauties and defects in morals, in manners, in literature—to the refined and delicate taste in arts and amusements —coupled with comprehensive views in science and politics, and have even a philosophy in its news ; all these are from their very nature limited in their circulation. Such things are "caviare to the general." To place them before the multitude, is like giving burgundy to dram-drinkers ; they may affect to admire the flavour, but they will not spend their money on the draught. The selling price of all the works in the various classes we have enumerated, must always be nominally dear, because their circulation must al- ways be limited. Those who require them must pay the necessary cost of their production, whatever it may be, or they will no longer be produced. With works addressing the whole body of the peo- ple, and looking to twenty-four millions of patrons, any gain above the cost of' the individual number may eventually suffice. In such a work, however, the conditions of its existence must be rigidly fulfilled : it must be cheap, it must be unique, it must be popular, it must be taking, it must be somewhat commonplace. Yet even with all these qualities combined, there is a limit to cheap publications, just as there is a limit to population or a boun- dary to the globe. Tait talks of the "siovelty" of cheap literature. In the religious world cheapness 'has been of some standing. Serious tracts have long been circulated for the cost of the paper and print; and the market (or we are much misinformed) has been for years fully stocked; so that a new publication has little chance. This event, if it have not happened already, will inevitably happen in the more extended market of general literature. It would seem that there is not room for two popular Penny Magazines (for the Saturday Magazine has a peculiar aim, and enjoys the patronage of a very powerful and respectable Society); and should our straightforward friend succeed—as we wish he may—and induce rivals to enter the field, it may be found that as " there has been but one Coesar," there can be but one Tait. We can fancy, indeed, • Multiplicatiuu of copies by successive impressions. Setting lie types, ,.reparatory' to impression. at some future period so increased a taste for reading, that the mar- ket mayibe greatly enlarged; but competition will be enlarged likewise, till even time itself shall be wanting to peruse the new cheap publications, setting aside reprints. Suppose an increase in the powers of production, which, together with good wages, should give greater leisure to the operatives, yet there is still. a limit which cannot be passed.

A question has been mooted as to the effects of the present cheap publications upon letters, and many have deeply bewailed their in- jurious tendency. We are optimists in all matters which arc

fairly left to themselves; and our faith enables us to rely upon a successful termination, though our reason does not perceive the means. But, speaking humanly, there appears little cause to dread the direct effects of cheapness. The very highest efforts of human genius have been produced from some higher motives than mere mercenary considerations. The Paradise Lost and the Principia were not dependent upon the size and price of books. In pursuits uniting the speculative with the practical, the spread of general knowledge and increased competition seem purely bene- ficial,—as in mechanics, surgery, chemistry. In one branch of letters, where genius must be united with drudgery,—as histo- rical composition,—we suspect (for we have scarcely data to say we believe) that the present number of compilers, e.r rapto viventes, is mischievous ; for no man likes to have his bread snatched out of his mouth, or to see his offspring emboweled before his face. To second-rate men—to the compilers of expensive treatises on science, or the fabricators of articles fur costly Encyclopredias—the present system is doubtless injurious : but the sun would continue to rise though they should go down for ever.

But though there seems little direct danger from an increase of cheap popular publications,—nay, though ever since the :era when printing was invented and peers were taught to write, learning- has continually been popularized and diffused,—yet their indirect effects upon literature, or more properly, that division of literature comprehended under the head of Belles Leases, by their action upon the general mind, seems (according to our present lights) far from beneficial. The greatest minds bear much of the impress of their age. The genius of SPENSER was spoiled by the allego- rical style of his period. SnAICSPEARE could not escape the coarse- ness awl the puns which were applauded in his day, whilst lie took advantage of the toleration for irregularities and negligence of composition. Even a more independent and a sublimer mind could not altogether come f )rth unscathed: not to speak of inserted con- struction and of foreign idioms, the pedantry thshionable in MIL- TON'S youth survives in his noblest work : In quibbles angels and archangels join.

And God the Father turns a school divine."

The impress of our own time, we suspect, will be something more injurious ; and the tendency of the evil is to increase. At present, it is a general complaint that time is wanting to read all that is worth reading ; and even the best productions must be read hastily, or not at all. With increase of number must come increase of hurry ; and the writer, of whatever powers, will adapt himself to the reader's taste. Genius will throw off its productions—like an exhibition-painting or a field-day speech—for immediate ellect. Who will spend almost a lifetime in observing the occurrences of life, so as to distinguish between an event and an accident—when a melodramatic incident will produce a greater sensation than the most studied simplicity of design ? Who will pass days and nights in verifying his opinions by considering them in all their bearings —s hen he will be abused by all parties for his lukewarmness, and scarcely any body will take the trouble of reconsidering their judgments? Who will submit to the labour of polishing and re- polishing sentences, of weighing the exact meaning of words, and tracing their minutest differences? Who will submit to the " des picable drudgery and pedantry" of selecting syllables for their " vowel sounds," and by successive revisals and constant labour give to the whole production the variety of nature with the en- during polish of art—when he can hardly calculate upon a patient perusal, much less a thorough appreciation? We imagine, no one.. An expert writer will, like a master in war, look first and last to the masses. The highest object of a plot will be to surprise the reader; the end and aim of an opinion, to startle him: if by a trans sient glance at a subject the essentials can be mastered, well; if

not, the prominences will serve the turn : never mind that which is true, lotus say that which is striking; and as point, and spar-

kle, and inflation, are more attractive and more easily attained than the refined simplicity of cultivated nature, let us be as pointed and sparkling and inflated as we can.