Editor's Fence

Editor's Fence Richard & Irma Le Gallienne Graves: In September of 1995, Clinton Krauss discovered that the fifteen-year rental period for the graves of Richard and Irma Le Gallienne in Menton, France, had expired in November of 1993. As a result, the Le Galliennes could be disinterred, the tombstone demolished, and the graves resold. By 20 November 1995, Krauss led an informal group of concerned persons; they raised and sent to Menton the funds necessary to secure the graves until November of 2008. On 1 December 1995, The Le Gallienne Fund (a Vermont Nonprofit Corporation) was established in order to raise a fund sufficient to pay the rental fees on the Le Gallienne graves in 2008 and every fifteen years thereafter. Approximately $500 is still needed in order to accrue sufficient interest by the year 2008. Anyone wishing to contribute to The Le Gallienne Fund is invited to send a contribution (in U.S. funds please) to: The Le Gallienne Fund/ c/o Clinton Krauss/ 30 Pleasant Street/ Montpelier, VT 05602 Report on the Le Gallienne Fund: Between 11 September 1995 and 20 November 1995 funds (contributions and interest) in the amount of $1,076.74 were collected from eight contributors. By 20 November 1995 a total of $1,071.74 had been disbursed to Menton to secure the graves through the year 2008 and to pay for repairs to the grave stone. The details listed below were submitted by Clinton Krauss, Director of the Le Gallienne Fund. INCOME EXPENSES Beginning balance $5.00 Vermont Secretary of State $35.00 Contributions (25) $1,268.46 Bank collection fee (foreign check) $35.00 Interest (passbook) $17.42 Bank penalty (low balance) $2.00 Interest (certificate) $29.64 $1,320.52 ENDING BALANCE 12/31/96 $1,248.52 "You Wont Publish My Book?" This past September as Director of ELT Press I participated in a conference many of you would have found germane: "The Specialized Scholarly Monograph in Crisis; or How Can I Get Tenure If You Won't Publish My Book?" It was sponsored by three groups central to scholarly publications: the American Council of Learned Societies; the Association of American University Presses; and the Association of Research Libraries. They had not previously joined forces to exchange ideas and cooperate in this way. Some 150 key figures in university publishing and library acquisitions attended the two-day conference in Washington, D.C. As you know, scholarly books, particularly those in literary criticism, continue to have genuine difficulties. Directors of many university presses say sales are not sufficient to keep publishing the number of monographs we (and tenure committees) are accustomed to seeing. Sanford Thatcher, Director of Penn State University Press, warned us of the cold facts several years ago in an article in the Chronicle of Higher Education, "The Crisis in Scholarly Communication": Since 1985, the Penn State Press has published 150 books of literary criticism , making it one of the leading scholarly publishers in the field___Of the 150 titles, 65 percent have sold fewer than 500 copies and 91 percent have sold fewer than 800. Only 3 percent (generally those dealing with American literature or gender issues) have sold more than 1,000 copies. The market for such books of traditional literary criticism has now shrunk to the point that it is no longer possible for a small, unendowed press like Penn State's to continue publishing such works. (3 September 1995, B, 1) The main themes that emerged from the 1997 conference support Mr. Thatcher's views. So did conversations I had with people attending. I spoke with an editor from a major university press. I explained that I'd received a 200-page book published by his press, a collection of essays on a topic currently very popular. I had sent the book out for review but was astonished at its price, $75. He smiled and told me I wouldn't have to worry about that next year because "we won't be publishing that kind of book in the future: collections of essays just don't sell well enough these days at any price." Some UPs are planning print runs of 400, a steely assessment of...