Thursday, September 23, 2021

About The First R and Related Enjoyments of John T. Winterich


I wrote all about the bibliophile John T. Winterich (1891-1970) in my November 2015 My Sentimental Library blog post, John T. Winterich: The Man, His Books, and His Other Literary Endeavors.   In the post I mentioned my purchase of an unpublished manuscript that Winterich had submitted to his agent Curtis Brown LTD.  Winterich was the editor of several periodicals, and the author of at least ten books and over 250 magazine articles.  And in the late 1950s, Winterich asked and received from the magazine publishers 'leave to reprint' some of his articles in a book.



The book was to be titled The First R and Related Enjoyments.  Winterich revised almost all of the articles, changed the titles of some of them, and submitted the manuscript in 197 sheets to his agent Curtis Brown LTD.  But the book was never published.  Years later,  Yesterday's Gallery & Babylon Revisited Rare Books acquired the manuscript at a local auction.  And in October 2015, I purchased the manuscript from them.



In the very last paragraph of my Nov 2015 blog post I promised more to come:

At any rate, I am thankful that John T. Winterich's unpublished book,  The First R and Related Enjoyments is part of my John T. Winterich Collection.   And I will be writing more about the book and its articles in the near future.

It is now six years later and the near future has come and gone.  I fully intended to post some of Winterich's manuscript articles on My Sentimental Library blog. That's why I bought it in the first place!  My post today details the steps I took to try to get the articles published on my blog.  Little did I know how difficult that would be.

The very first thing I did after posting my blog on November 8, 2015 was to transfer the 197 manuscript sheets from the Curtis Brown manuscript box to individual acid-free sheet protectors.



Next, I created my own Table of Contents, identifying the publisher, publication date, and manuscript page location of each article.  Apologies beforehand if you can't read my handwriting.  Sometimes I can't read it myself!  I have a more readable Table of Contents at the end of this post.




I didn't think that publishing Winterich's articles on my blog would come under "fair use."  I thought it best that I obtain permission from the various periodical publishers.   This proved to be a can of worms.  Some of the periodicals had folded, and I didn't know who held the copyright.   Other publishers enrolled their publications with the Copyright Clearance Center.   This company charges a fee for the copyright clearance.  

Fortunately, The New Yorker did not have its articles enrolled with the Copyright Clearance Center. Winterich had worked with Harold Ross, the co-founder of The New Yorker,  on The Stars and Stripes, The Home Sector, and then the The New Yorker from 1938 on.  Ross had given Winterich 'leave to reprint' three articles that first appeared in The New Yorker.   I figured that Winterich's close ties with Ross and The New Yorker would grease the way for me to receive permission to publish the articles on my blog  Boy was I wrong!

On Nov 12, 2015, just four days after publishing my blog post about Winterich, I called Condé Nast in New York, the publisher of not only The New Yorker, but GC, Vanity Fair and others.  When I requested permission to publish the articles on my blog, I was instructed to submit my request in an email to the Condé Nast Contact Licensing Department, which I did that very day.  But I never received a reply.  I wrote to Contact Licensing again on Feb 4, 2016.  I received a response the next day from a Licensing Assistant.  That Assistant told me that he contacted a colleague who would be assisting me with checking the license rights of the three Winterich articles.  But the colleague never contacted me.  I wrote to Contact Licensing again on Sep 2, 2016 stating that I had not received any information on the status of my request.   I received the following reply:

Sep 2, 2016, 11:58 AM 
 to me 
 
Hi Jerry,   

Apologies for the delay. Confirming that I’ve submitted the below content to our permissions department who will advise back on the status of the underlying rights tied to each piece of text. Once I hear back regarding rights, I’ll follow up with next steps.   

Publication:  The New Yorker Issue Date: 3/22/1947 Page: 71 Request Type: Syndication, text Contributor: John T. Winterich Description: “A Touch of Genius” Territory (if applicable): World End Use (Print, El

Publication:  The New Yorker Issue Date: 10/2/1948 Page: 68 Request Type: Syndication, text Contributor: John T. Winterich Description: “Not in Stevenson” Territory (if applicable): World End Use (Print, Electronic, TV/Film): Electronic. Blogger, Jerry Morris requesting rights to re-publish text on his blog.   

Publication:  The New Yorker Issue Date: 12/8/1951 Page: 150 Request Type: Syndication, text Contributor: John T. Winterich Description: “A Half Hour with Longfellow” Territory (if applicable): World End Use (Print, Electronic, TV/Film): Electronic. Blogger, Jerry Morris requesting rights to re-publish text on his blog.  

 Best, xxxxx  xxxxxx 
Manager, Licensing CONDÉ NAST 
 One World Trade Center, 42nd Floor NY, NY 10007


That was the last time I heard from anyone at Condé Nast.  But on the same day I contacted the Licensing Director of Publishers Weekly.  And we corresponded for a week.

Permission to Reprint Two PW Articles From the 1950s 


Jerry Morris xxxxxxxxx@gmail.com> 
Sep 2, 2016, 2:59 PM 
 to XXXXXXX 
 
Dear xxxxxxxxxx, 

I request permission to "reprint" two PW articles by the late John T. Winterich (1891-1970) on my popular book-related blog, My Sentimental Library: 
 
"Bookseller on Horseback" published on 2/3/51
 and 
"EMUS, ROCS, AND MOAS" published on 4/17/54 

These two articles were part of The First R and Related Enjoyments, a 197-page typescript of 22 articles published in various periodicals that Winterich submitted to his agent, Curtis, Brown, Ltd. in the late 1950s for publication.   

Winterich had been successful in the past in getting his articles published in book form, including Books And The Man, a series of articles previously published in Publishers' Weekly. Winterich had received "leave to reprint,"  The First R... but this book was never published and gathered dust for years at Curtis, Brown, Ltd. 

Michael Manz, proprietor of Babylon Revisited Rare Books, acquired the boxed typescript at an auction in New York. And in October 2015, I purchased the box of unpublished typescript from him.

If and when I receive permission to "reprint," I intend to display the typescripts of the articles on my blog, displaying the changes Winterich made to the original texts.  In some cases, such as "Bookseller on Horseback," Winterich made only minor word substitutions.  But in others, such as "EMUS, ROCS, AND MOAS," he deleted several paragraphs and added almost a hundred words.  The later article, btw, is about the publication of the first Simon and Schuster Crossword Puzzle Book. For more information on Winterich and his writings, you can read my blog post, John T. Winterich:  the Man, His Books, and His Other Literary Endeavors.

best, 
Jerry Morris 

p.s.  I see you're a Yankee fan.  Just for fun, you should read A Most Heavenly Review?  

                                                                ______________ 

xxxxxxx@publishersweekly.com 

                                             
 Fri, Sep 2, 2016, 6:35 PM ￼ ￼ 

 Dear Jerry, 

What a fascinating character Mr. Winterich must have been! Thank you for those descriptions. 

For permission to reprint, head on over to the Copyright Clearance Center, www.copyright.com, and click "get permission." Once you do that, type in the publication name, in this case Publishers Weekly. From there the system will guide you through. 

Any questions or issues with the CCC, let me know and we'll figure it out. 

As for the Bums, yes, I am a fan, and I thank you for this suggestion. I don't know the book (yet) but will check it out! 

Best wishes, and happy Labor Day weekend,
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxy 
Publicity and Content Licensing Director 
office direct: xxxxxx cell: xxxxxx   
Publishers Weekly 
71 West 23rd Street, Ste. 1608 
New York, NY 10010 
xxxxxxx 

                                                    –––––––––––––––––––––––––––– 

 Sep 2, 2016, 11:18 PM

Dear xxxx,

Thank you.  

 I received more in four hours from you than I have in nine months of querying representatives of another periodical that published Winterich's articles.

I should mention that I'm not recommending Cohen's book.  I really was at the game that Maris hit his 61st home run.  Cohen had his facts wrong as far as the attendance went and about how fans felt about Maris. So I "created" the heavenly review to dispute his findings without calling him an outright liar.  

A much better book about Yankees is Lefty: An American Odyssey.  Here's my review of that book.

best, 

and thanks again!

Jerry Morris

                                                –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Tue, Sep 6, 2016, 4:40 PM

Me again!
CCC appears to be  expensive!

I tried "Share content electronically" "post on the internet" and it would cost $433.50 to post "Bookseller on Horseback," and that is only for one full year.  Unlimited duration is not permitted.

I then tried "Republish or Display Content" choosing "other" as the publication vehicle and was informed that I'd have to create an account and special order it.

In your experience, is it worth proceeding or are we talking big bucks to post? 

best,
Jerry Morris

                                    –––––––––––––––––––––––––––– 

Tue, Sep 6, 2016, 6:31 PM

Hi Jerry,

I'm sorry the CCC put this out of range of your budget.

Our base price for permissions is $110 per article/review. From there, the algorithm gives discounts for nonprofits, adds extra for world rights and big print runs (for reprinting in books, for instance), and on and on.

You wanted to reprint two articles on your blog, right? For eternity. Or as long as the blog exists. That's all right with us.

For the two pieces, could you do $110 each? Would that be within your budget?<

If so, we'll send you an invoice directly and the permissions language. Just let me know.

xxxxxx

                                                               _____________ 

Tue, Sep 6, 2016, 7:41 PM

Dear xxxxx,

If I win the Florida Fantasy Five again (I won in '93 and '95: 14 grand and 24 grand), I would be able to afford to print the best of Winterich's 22 articles.  But not until then.

The loser is Winterich.  Publishing his amended articles on My Sentimental Library blog would have been a worthy tribute to his 30+ years as a bookman and editor in the periodical industry.

I do appreciate all your help.  Thanks :-)

Jerry

I put my attempts to obtain copyright clearance of Winterich's articles on the back burner for over a year.   On October 17, 2017 I submitted an application to Imaging and Rights department of the Morgan Library and Museum requesting permission to publish the title article "The First R" on my blog. Winterich had given this presentation at the opening of an exhibition of children's literature at the Pierpont Morgan Library and Museum on November 18, 1954.  The Morgan had published the presentation in a pamphlet.  The Morgan  declined to grant permission to me to publish the article.  Although the Morgan was the copyright holder of the edition, it was not the intellectual copyright holder and was not able to grant permission to publish the article.  So on to the back burner my quest went again!  And there it will most likely remain.

In the last four years, I have been  unable to identify and locate the intellectual copyright owner.  And I have become familiar with other such copyright terms as fair use, due diligence, unlocatable copyright owners, orphan works, copyright infringement, and infringement liability.  Publishing Winterich's articles on my blog is not fair use.  Several countries have already set procedures that determine if a person has done due diligence in attempting to find a copyright owner of an orphan work.  The United States still has no set procedures to prove due diligence in trying to find intellectual copyright owners of orphan works. Orphan Works are best defined by the Congressional Research Service, Congress' think tank:

Orphan works are copyrighted works whose owners are difficult or impossible to identify and/or locate.  Orphan works are perceived to be inaccessible because of the risk of infringement liability that a user might incur if and when a copyright owner subsequently appears.  Consequently, many works that are, in fact, abandoned by owners are withheld from public view because of uncertainty about the owner and the risk of liability.

Winterich's articles are definitely orphan works.  I sometimes wonder that had I purchased copyright clearance from the Copyright Clearance Center, if I still would have been liable for copyright infringement if an intellectual copyright owner appeared after I published the articles.  I cannot take that chance.  Therefore, you will not be reading Winterich's articles on my blog.  

You can, however, read Winterich's original articles in the archives of periodical publishers who are still in business –– if you are a subscriber to their magazine, and if you know the original title or the date of publication. You can go to the UNZ Review at UNZ.com and read some of Winterich's articles that were published in the Saturday Review –– but with the same "ifs."  I can help you!  Below is a descriptive Table of Contents containing information on where and when the articles were first published, the original titles, and whether Winterich revised the articles.  Finally, if the subject matter isn't readily evident by the title, I have added a note identifying what the article is about.



THE FIRST R AND RELATED ENJOYMENTS

TABLE OF CONTENTS 

P.H. D. In Purple. First Published in Harper's Magazine in March 1956.  The original title was Dr. Rosenbach: the tycoon of rare books.  5700 words. Minor revisions.

The Man Who Didn't Go to Harvard. First published in the Saturday Review on April 1, 1933 in the Compleat Collector column Winterich shared with Carl Purington Rollins.  The original title was "Household Words."  Article is about John Bartlett.  Original article was two columns long.  Greatly expanded to 3200 words in 14 double-spaced pages.

Bookseller on Horseback.  First published in Publishers Weekly on Feb 2, 1951.  The original title was "What a New Englander Was Likely to Read in 1711.  1000 words. Minor revisions.

The Life, Works, and Travels of Bloodgood Haviland Cutter. First published in the Colophon in April 1930.  The original title was The Life and Works of Bloodgood Haviland Cutter. 6000 words. Extensive revisions.

The Ladies of the Lake. First published in the Colophon Part 8 (Nov 1931). 3500 words. Minor revisions. An article about two American poets, Lucretia Maria Davidson and her younger sister Margaret Miller Davidson.

Restitution: A Fiction.  First published in the Saturday Review Dec 26, 1931 in the Compleat Collector column.  3200 words. Minor revisions. Postscript added referring to Carter and Pollard's 1934 Enquiry... . Winterich's story, written more than two years earlier, was about a copy of Wise's book of E.B.B.'s sonnets that the book's character purchased for five cents at a book sale benefit for crippled children, then felt guilty about the purchase.

Autografters: Their Ways and Wiles.  First published in the New York Times Magazine on Aug 28, 1928.  The original title was "As They Trail the Coveted Autograph." 6300 words. Extensive revisions.  A two-page article was extended to twenty pages.

Scrap of Paper With Not Enough Writing. First published in Prominade Sep 1946.  1600 words, Minor revisions. An article about a bounced check.

World Invisible. in the Compleat Collector column of the Saturday Review Feb 4, 1933. 650 words. Minor revisions.  An article about the movement of planets in our solar system.

A Slight Brush with the Minor Drama. First published in the New Yorker March 22, 1947.  The original title was A Touch of Genius.  3100 words. 400 words added.  An article about what happened at a school play Winterich appeared in as a child ( I like the original title better).

A Half Hour With Longfellow.  First published in the New Yorker Dec 8, 1951. 1700 words. Minor revisions.

How to Confect an Apophthegm. New Yorker 10-2-41 Original title was Not in Stevenson.  2000 words. Minor revisions.  An article about Winterich and a Major writing information about the War Department's  Program that President Roosevelt used in a speech.  The quote was not in Stevenson's Book of Quotations.

A Word on Words.   First published in the Saturday Review in two parts as the editorials on Sep 21, 1946 and on June 14, 1947.  The 1947 editorial which appears first in the revised article, was titled Words Over-Worn. The 1946 editorial was titled Myrrh vs Murder. 4000 words. Extensive revisions.

Emus, Rocs, and Mcas. First published in Pub Wkly 4-17-54 The original title was 30th Birthday of Crossword.  3500 words. Minor revisions

Why They're Called Turnpikes. Paid for by Ford but never published. 1000 words.

Happy Old Year.  First published in Nation's Business Jan 48.  3000 words. Extensive revisions. An article about all the things that happened in the year 1913.

This Way to the Twenty-First Century. First published in  Nation's Business Jan 4. 3300 words. Extensive revisions. An article about how the nation welcomed the twentieth century.

Library Under Fire.  Ford Times (Old Saybrook Nice Place to be) n.d.

Author Sees Book. First published in the Dolphin in  the Winter 1941 issue.  The original title was Some Authors Who Looked At Their Books. 2100 words.  Extensive revisions.

A Room With a View.  An address delivered on Jan 12, 1954 at the dedication of the Providence Public Library 's new wing. 3300 words. Minor revisions.

Collector's Choice.  A presentation given at the Grolier Club on Apr 27, 1954 at the opening of an exhibition of literary and historical material.  3800 words. Absolutely no revisions.  Privately printed for Winterich by the Peter Pauper Press in 1954.

The First R. A presentation given at the opening of the exhibition of children's literature at the Pierpont Morgan Library and Museum on Nov 18, 1954.  5800 words.  Only a few revisions.  The Morgan published a pamphlet of the presentation in 1954.
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