4. The History of the English Revolution, or the hard work of a publisher
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It was thus to a substantial sum of 60,000 francs, payable for each title one-third on delivery of the texts and the remainder in twenty-four monthly instalments, that Pierre-Paul Didier had committed himself. Having had his fingers burnt, he secured a right of preference for any future collection of political works, as well as for a new edition of the Histoire de la civilisation once Guizot had recovered the rights assigned to Victor Masson. In fact, he took the initiative, displaying hitherto unsuspected enterprise: probably at the beginning of 1853, he obtained from Masson, on terms unknown to us, the stocks of the four titles Masson had published between 1849 and 1851, but above all the publishing contract for volumes 1 to 4 of the Histoire de la révolution d’Angleterre{{1}}[[1]]This emerges from a letter from Didier to Génie dated 28 April, giving an extract from the deed of assignment granted by Masson.
[[1]], with the consent of the author, who had first asked Lenormant about the exact circumstances in which, in 1848, Masson had been preferred to Didier; he was told that his instructions had been scrupulously followed{{2}}[[2]]”Mr Masson prevailed over Mr Didier in a matter on which, as your letters show, you were consulted day by day.” Letter from Charles Lenormant of 21 January 1853.[[2]]. The way was open to resume this great undertaking at 35 quai des Augustins. In the rue de la Ville-l’Évêque and above all at Le Val-Richer, Guizot was now working on it relentlessly. Drafts, covered with crossings-out and alterations, show that Guizot conducted the negotiation line by line. Didier, for his part, was worried by the announcement of the forthcoming publication in the Revue contemporaine of a fragment of the work in progress, as Guizot had done a year earlier with an extract entitled “Cromwell sera-t-il roi ?{{3}}[[3]]”Mr Guizot yields too readily to the solicitations of the gentlemen who edit reviews (…) This will do enormous harm to the sale of the two volumes, of which, as you know, a great many must be sold to recoup the costs; and besides, no reservation was made regarding this, it is so to speak a departure from the agreement, and above all it would be detrimental to me.” Letter of 28 April 1853, cited above.[[3]]” Was the pre-publication of advance extracts in the press, a practice to which Guizot was accustomed and which replaced readings in the salons, an effective promotional tool? The debate is still not closed today. Finally, on 10 May 1853, author and publisher signed an agreement of meticulous precision. It first recalled the substance of the agreement concluded on 24 November 1848 between Guizot and Masson and the manner in which it had been carried out; the two parties then recorded the full and complete substitution of Didier for Masson, from which it followed that Didier would publish the third and fourth volumes of the Histoire de la révolution d’Angleterre and pay the author the 20,000 francs stipulated in the Masson contract. By way of derogation from that contract, Guizot, “in consideration of the personal regard he has for Mr Didier and solely with a view to obliging him” – Didier’s self-esteem must once again have suffered from this self-flattering pose – agreed that payment should be made not in cash on delivery of the whole text, but through a payment of 4,000 francs on delivery of the manuscript of each of volumes 3 and 4, followed by twelve monthly payments of 1,000 francs beginning five months after delivery of the manuscript of the last volume. It was recorded that the manuscript of volume 3 had been delivered and the instalment of 4,000 francs paid. Thus the persevering Didier resumed a publication he had taken on in 1840. Indeed, the two volumes forming the “Histoire de la République d’Angleterre et de Cromwell (1649-1658)”, the second part of the Histoire de la révolution d’Angleterre, appeared in March 1854, simultaneously in Paris and London.
Then began the great manoeuvres over the publication of the sequel and conclusion of this History begun thirty years earlier. The discussion was extremely bitter, all the more so as, on 15 October 1855, Guizot was due to recover the ownership of the Histoire de la civilisation, assigned to Masson in 1848 as we have seen, which Didier, relying on his right of preference, also coveted. Publisher and author engaged for several weeks in a trial of strength from which the latter in the end emerged rather to his advantage. On 2 February 1855, Didier, in a letter to Génie already cited, summed up the grievances he had accumulated: crude and unjustified exclusion in 1848 over the Histoire de la révolution d’Angleterre, scandalous stripping of his rights to the Histoire de la civilisation, a costly lawsuit with Brière over the Origines du gouvernement représentatif, a volume of Études biographiques in reality paid for twice – all this called for compensation; then came the moment for proposals. Observing that the offers from other publishers reported by Génie showed “a complete ignorance of the economics of the business”, he offered 10,000 francs for each of the five volumes that were to carry the account of the English revolution from 1660 to 1688, adding 5,000 francs for the 1812 history course. But Guizot did not see it that way. Conversations, draft contracts and visits followed one another. Finally, on 14 April, Guizot wrote Didier an official letter, reminding him of the right of preference he had granted him on equal terms, and informing him of the offers made to him by competitors: 40,000 francs for the five volumes of the third and fourth parts of the Histoire de la révolution d’Angleterre in a print run of 5,000 copies, and 15,000 francs for each subsequent edition of 3,000 copies; for the new edition of the five volumes of the Histoire de la civilisation, one franc per octavo volume and 50 centimes for the duodecimo format, with no print run specified. Was Didier prepared to match these? He was asked to “reply without delay”. A good tactician, the publisher sidestepped the question. He reminded Guizot of their very recent conversation, “which you seem to have completely forgotten”. For the five volumes on the English revolution, the publisher had offered 50,000 francs and the author had demanded 60,000, with no mention of a print run, and therefore as a flat fee. To make up for his setbacks, Guizot had offered Didier 1,000 copies of the Histoire de la civilisation free of royalties; Didier had asked for 5,000. In the course of the discussion, they had agreed on the 60,000 francs and Didier had lowered his demand to 3,000 copies. Since then, silence from Guizot. Didier therefore refrained from replying to the letter of 14 April, in the hope “that you will reconsider the intention which I observe with sorrow in your new proposal, that of breaking with me”{{4}}[[4]]Letter of 21 April 1855.[[4]].
Tugging at the heartstrings was not the way to win Guizot over. On Sunday 22 April, Guizot demanded that Didier give Génie a yes or no answer the very next day on whether he would exercise his right of preference. In fact, negotiations went on all week, and on Saturday 28 April Guizot lost his temper: “Let Didier know that everything must be settled by next Monday, before 1 o’clock, on my latest terms, or by a definite yes or no (…) I shall not change one iota and I shall not wait one more day.” He had to wait a little longer, and it was on 12 May that two separate agreements were signed. By the first, Guizot assigned to Didier for twelve years “the exclusive enjoyment”, “as a thing belonging to him in full and entire ownership”, of which he “shall exploit the publication and sale in whatever manner he judges most consistent with his interests”, the third and fourth parts of the Histoire de la révolution d’Angleterre, together forming five volumes. The unusual wording seems to strengthen the rights of the publisher, who also obtained the right of preference at the end of the term of the assignment. In reality, the author was well served. First, he secured the reservation of his rights for all foreign languages, and not only English as was customary. Next, the number of author’s copies was raised to one hundred. Finally, the price of 12,000 francs per volume was confirmed, payable for each one as 5,000 francs on delivery of the manuscript and the balance in six quarterly instalments following publication. It should be noted that the stability of prices and of the currency at the time made it possible to spread payments in this way through promissory notes, an arrangement valued by the publisher for cash-flow reasons and by the author for the predictability and regularity of his income. The manuscript of the first volume of the third part was finished, and the second was being written. Both appeared in February 1856, and shortly afterwards in London, published by Richard Bentley, of 8 New Burlington Street, in a translation by Andrew Scoble considered faulty{{5}}[[5]]Under a contract signed on 11 October 1852, for £125 – £1 = 25.20 francs –, Richard Bentley had published the second part, in an abridged version and with the same translator, under the title History of Oliver Cromwell & the English Commonwealth. The third part is entitled History of Richard Cromwell & the Restoration of Charles II. The poor quality of these editions is said to be explained by Guizot’s financial demands, which prevented the hiring of a competent translator. Cf. letter from H. Reeve to A. de Tocqueville of 30 January 1856, in Alexis de Tocqueville, Œuvres complètes, vol. VI, part 1, Paris, Gallimard, 1954, p. 159.[[5]]. But the fourth part was never to be written. The six volumes that now constituted the definitive edition of the Histoire de la Révolution d’Angleterre were continuously exploited by Didier and then by his successor Émile Perrin until 1884.
The second agreement of 12 May 1855 concerned the Histoire de la civilisation en Europe et en France, the enjoyment of which was guaranteed to Didier in the same terms as in the other contract, but this time without any time limit. The “indemnity” – an unusual term – due to the author was to amount to one franc per octavo volume and fifty centimes per duodecimo volume, as Guizot had requested in his letter of 15 April, citing a similar offer. However, the author, “taking into consideration the disturbance that may have been caused to Mr Didier in the exploitation of his Histoire des origines du gouvernement représentatif”, waived his rights on 2,000 octavo copies of the Histoire de la civilisation, which nonetheless amounted to 10,000 volumes, and therefore 10,000 francs. Didier, even though he had originally asked for 5,000 copies, had thus not lost everything. This compensation would be applied progressively to successive print runs, it being understood that the publisher could publish separately the volume of the Histoire de la civilisation en Europe and the four volumes of the Histoire de la civilisation en France. Under these conditions, for this sixth, new edition shortly to appear{{6}}[[6]]The Histoire de la civilisation en Europe reappeared in 1856, and the Histoire de la civilisation en France the following year, each with a new preface.[[6]], Guizot received only 2,000 francs. But he had already drawn appreciable sums from it previously and, since this assignment was paid not as a flat fee but according to print runs, he and his heirs would continue to profit from it handsomely for some thirty more years, thanks to a success that faded only slowly.
After these heavy publishing operations, which no doubt left their mark on both partners, Guizot signed with Didier five more times, for works of lesser importance for which three contracts survive{{7}}[[7]]Missing are those relating to the Essais sur l’histoire de France, taken over by Didier in 1857 in a ninth edition with a new preface, and to the Dictionnaire universel des synonymes de la langue française, whose fourth edition had appeared from Payen in 1848, and which was revised by Victor Figarol, a teacher of literature and close friend of Guillaume Guizot. This fifth edition was published in two volumes in 1861. Four more followed up to 1885.[[7]]. Between June and September 1856, Guizot published in three instalments in the Revue des deux mondes a “study in contemporary history” devoted to Sir Robert Peel, British Prime Minister when he himself was at the Foreign Ministry. Even before this publication was complete, Guizot was approached, or arranged to be approached, to publish it in one volume, adding documents unpublished in France, which therefore had to be translated. Didier prevailed over his competitors after hard bargaining, and the agreement signed on 24 July bears its mark. The text was assigned for twelve years at a price of 10,000 francs if it amounted to at least 125 pages of the Revue, with a further 480 francs for each additional ten pages up to a ceiling of 185 pages, the translation of the documents being reimbursed up to 500 francs. The author reserved all foreign rights to himself. The work thus appeared at the end of 1856{{8}}[[8]]It comprises 358 pages of main text, corresponding to 165 pages of the Revue, and 174 pages of documents.[[8]], the English edition following shortly afterwards{{9}}[[9]]Memoirs of sir Robert Peel by M. Guizot, Richard Bentley, 1857. The translator’s name does not appear on the title page. This contract had been concluded as early as 17 June, and thus before the agreement with Didier, for £125.[[9]]. Guizot took advantage of the occasion to drive an unequal bargain: for the new editions agreed upon, Didier was asking him for prefaces “which are not without importance, and which take up my time. I do not wish to play the dupe and take this trouble for absolutely nothing.” In return for these prefaces, Didier would therefore have to write off a debt of about 500 francs for books purchased on the author’s behalf. “If that does not suit him, no Prefaces”{{10}}[[10]]Letter to Génie of 28 June 1856.[[10]]. Didier made a show of being hurt: “I confess that I hoped to owe these two pieces to your good grace alone, but since this receipt must be included, I give it to you, Sir, in full.{{11}}[[11]]Letter from Didier to Guizot of 14 August 1856.[[11]]” Such were the relations between these two gentlemen; literature is a trade. Abundant proof of this is provided by the negotiations for a new edition of the Œuvres complètes de Shakspeare – the spelling then prevailing – based on Le Tourneur’s old translation as revised by Guizot and Amédée Pichot and published in 13 volumes by Ladvocat in 1821. In an unctuous jargon whose substance has lost none of its relevance, Didier argued: “Threatened as we are by competition that we must reckon with – Mr Hachette on the one hand, who is having a translation made, and on the other that of Mr Hugo the younger, competition all the more serious as it relies on low prices – we find ourselves faced with the alternative either of printing your translation as it stands, or of printing it after a revision which no doubt seems necessary to you, a kind of sacrifice imposed by literary competition, a revision on terms in keeping with the situation. (…) Our habits and our taste for improvement urge us towards a sacrifice which necessity must nevertheless limit.{{12}}[[12]]Idem, 30 October 1858. The eight volumes appeared between 1860 and 1862, and were reprinted three times.[[12]]” All this to say that he could offer no more than 4,000 francs for a publication in eight volumes. The agreement was signed on 4 December 1858 on this basis, and Guizot set his children to work to “revise, have revised and correct” the original translation “so that it may be accurate and fully satisfactory.”
The collaboration with Didier was drawing to a close. To complete his disengagement, Guizot, by a contract of 17 January 1861, assigned to him the right to publish a collection of the speeches he had delivered at the Institut, in literary and religious societies and at prize-giving ceremonies, adding for good measure three essays written in 1826 – this miscellaneous whole under the title Discours académiques, “a business more honourable than profitable{{13}}[[13]]Letter to Guizot of 12 January 1861 from Désiré Glorian, Didier’s chief clerk.[[13]]” according to the publisher; and the author was no doubt of the same opinion, for he was content with 1,500 francs for a first edition of 1,500 octavo copies, or 1,000 octavo and 1,000 duodecimo. In reality, this modest sum came as compensation for the cancellation of article 2 of the agreement of 10 July 1850, concerning the “Fragment of personal memoirs” and the Discours devant les Chambres, whose publication had been reserved for Didier. The fact was that, for several years, Guizot had been taken up by other urgent matters, and courted by other publishers, to whom he had alluded in order to push up Didier’s bids, and whom he had finally named: they were, to Didier’s lack of surprise, Louis Hachette and Michel Lévy{{14}}[[14]]On these two figures and their firms, see Jean-Yves Mollier, Michel et Calmann Lévy ou la naissance de l’édition moderne (1836-1891), Paris, Calmann-Lévy, 1984, and Louis Hachette (1800-1864), Paris, Fayard, 1999.[[14]], who had long been lying in wait. I shall deal with the former in the last part of this study, since he was the publisher of Guizot’s last work, and the most profitable one.