A discrepancy exists among the printed sources regarding the amount
of money Mrs. Stowe was paid for the serial version of Uncle Tom's
Cabin. While it is a small matter, it may be worthwhile to clear it
up if, in the process, we can also shed some light on the conditions of
authorship in the early 1850's. The most commonly cited sum said to have
been paid for the serial, which ran in the National Era from
June 5, 1851, to April 1, 1852, is $300.[1] However, in A History of
American Magazines, 1850-1865, Frank Luther Mott
cites $400 as the amount she was paid by Gamaliel Bailey for Uncle
Tom's Cabin.[2] There is some
reason for believing that Mott's is the correct figure, even though the $300
one comes from a presumably reliable source—the authorized biography
of Mrs. Stowe, written by her son, and for which she selected the material
to be included. In theory, at least, this biography
ought to contain "inside" information. But the author does not reveal his
source and merely states, "For the story as a serial the author received
$300" (Stowe, p. 158).
The source of Mott's figure is documented. It came
from an article on Bailey that appeared in the Atlantic
Monthly for 1866. The article contains a long excerpt from a letter
written by Bailey to a friend in 1853—when his memory was still
fresh—in which he states unequivocally that he paid Mrs. Stowe the
higher sum for the novel, although it was paid out in three installments:
$100, $200 and $100. These payments were made at irregular intervals
because neither Bailey nor Mrs. Stowe realized that she was going to turn
out a novel, let alone such a long one. Bailey began by sending her $100
at the beginning of 1851 with instructions to write "'as much
as she pleased, what she pleased, and when she
pleased.'"[3] Her response to him
indicates that she was thinking in terms of a story that would run through
only three or four numbers of the Era.[4]
When it became apparent that the story was going to go on
indefinitely,
and when Bailey discovered what it was doing for the circulation of the
Era, he wrote to her again saying that although he had not
contracted for such a story, nonetheless he felt "'bound to make her another
remittance,'" and sent her $200 more. But still she wrote, and when at last
Uncle Tom came to an end, he wrote to her once more. His
remarks on the occasion of the writing are worth quoting in some detail for
the light they shed on her status as a writer and on the relationship between
editors and writers in this period:
". . . I wrote to Mrs. Stowe that, as I had not contemplated so large
an outlay in my plans for the volume, as the paper had not received so
much pecuniary benefit from its publication as it would have done could my
readers have foreseen what it was to be, and as my large circulation had
served as a tremendous advertisement for the work, which was now about
to be published separately, and of which she held the copyright alone, I
supposed that I ought not to pay for it so much as if these circumstances
had not existed. But I simply stated the case to her,—submitted
everything to her judgment,—and would pay her additional just exactly
what she should determine was right. She named one hundred dollars more;
this I immediately remitted," (Atlantic, pp. 748-749).
Mrs. Stowe could hardly have found a more agreeable editor than Bailey.
Not only did he let her write what, when and as much as she pleased, but
he also let her name the price. Clearly her star was already
ascending.
That Bailey's account of the matter is correct is substantiated by Mrs.
Stowe's answer to him in which she asks for $400 and explains how she
arrived at that figure:
I am a very incompetent judge of my own performances as to their
monied worth. My feeling on this subject has always been one of entire
confidence in you as disposed to do always what is fair & right
whether with or without legal engagement & so far the feeling has
been fully supported. . . .
In response to the question you propose I can only look at cases of
other authors who furnish copy right works for current papers.
My friend Mr. John Abbott of this town receives of the Harpers $100
per month for his Napoleon—his brother I believe the same for articles
he furnishes.
—They derive in addition all the advantage of circulation &
advertisement &c— My story has spun nearly through a year &
embodies I suppose an equal amount of matter—Would it be unreasonable
in this view for me to say $400 for it
as a whole—This
would be about the mental estimate I have placed on it—This would be
about a third of what the Abbotts are receiving—I refer the matter to you
with confidence.
[5]
Lest Mrs. Stowe appear to be undervaluing her own work here, it should
be noted that the Abbotts were probably receiving top dollar for their work.
John Abbott was, as Mrs. Stowe asserted, being paid $100 a month for his
series of articles on Napoleon which appeared in
Harpers' New
Monthly Magazine over a space of four years, beginning in 1851.
Jacob
Abbott was being paid $5 a page in 1851 for his contributions to
Harpers', and by April 1852 he was receiving $10 a
page.
[6] According to Mott (pp.
19-25), no periodical at this time—with very rare exceptions—paid
more than this, and most did not pay as much, when they bothered to pay
at all.
Mrs. Stowe had been writing long enough to be all too painfully
aware of this fact, and in deciding how much to ask for her work she
probably took it into account along with the fact that she was still a
relatively unknown writer, whereas the Abbotts were at the peak of their
popularity. She may also have given heed to Bailey's statement that he had
not planned on such an outlay as he had already made, though she did
discount his assertion that the advertisement she had gotten from the
serialization of her novel ought to be taken into account in fixing upon a
fair price. It is also possible that she had $400 in mind as a kind of mark
to aim for as a year's income from her writing, for she wrote to her
husband upon receipt of the first $100 from Bailey: ". . . I don't want to
feel obliged to work as hard every year as I have this. I can earn four
hundred dollars a year by writing, but I don't want to feel that I must. . .
." (Fields, p. 132).