, consider the
necessity of uniform laws for securing the rights of literary men and
publishers. The Diet moved in the matter in the year 1818, appointing a
commission to settle this question; and, thanks to that supreme
profoundness which was ever applied to the affairs of the father-land by
this illustrious body, after twenty-two years of deliberation, on the
9th of Nov., 1837, decreed the law, that the rights of authorship should
be acknowledged and respected, at least, for the space of ten years;
copyright for a longer period, however, being granted for voluminous and
costly works, and for the works of the great German poets.

"In the course of time, however, a copyright for ten years proved
insufficient even for the commonest works; it was therefore extended by a
decree of the Diet, dated June 19, 1845, over the natural term of the
author's life and for thirty years after his death. With respect to the
works of all authors deceased before the 9th of November, 1837--
including the works of the poets enumerated above--the Diet decided
that they could all be protected until the 9th of November, 1867.

"It was to be expected that the firm of J. G. Cotta, favored until now
with so valuable a monopoly, would make all possible exertions not to be
surpassed in the coming battle of the Publishers, though it is a somewhat
curious sight to see this haughty house, after having used its privileges
to the last moment, descend now suddenly from its high monopolistic stand
into the arena of competition, and compete for public favor with its
plebeian rivals. Availing itself of the advantage which the monopoly
hitherto attached to it naturally gives it, the house has just commenced
issuing a cheap edition of the German classics, under the title
'Bibliothek fuer Alle. Meisterwerke deutscher Classiker,' in weekly parts,
6 cts. each; containing the selected works of Schiller, at the price of
75 cts., and the selected works of Goethe, at the price of $1.50. And
now, just as the monopoly is gliding from their hands, the same firm
offers, in a small 16mo edition, Schiller's complete works, 12 vols.,
for 75 cts.

"Another publisher, A. H. Payne, of Leipzig, announces a complete edition
of Schiller's works, including some unpublished pieces, for 75 cts.

"Again, the well-known firm of F. A. Brockhaus holds out a prospectus of
a corrected critical edition of the German