Mr. Meeson's Will

Mr. Meeson's Will Summary

Mr. Meeson's Will by H. Rider Haggard is an 1888 novel that satirizes the publishing industry and explores themes of greed, legal battles, and adventure. The story follows Augusta Smithers, a young author exploited by her publisher, Mr. Meeson. A series of extraordinary events, including a shipwreck and a unique method of documenting a will, lead to a gripping tale of survival and justice.

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Mr. Meeson's Will Excerpt

Short Summary: Augusta Smithers, a talented but underappreciated author, becomes entangled with the domineering publisher Mr. Meeson. Following a shipwreck, Meeson tattoos his will onto Augusta's back, leading to legal challenges and a critique of the publishing world.

"Everybody who has any connection with Birmingham will be acquainted with the vast publishing establishment still known by the short title of 'Meeson's,' which is perhaps the most remarkable institution of the sort in Europe. There are—or rather there were, at the date of the beginning of this history—three partners in Meeson's—Meeson himself, the managing partner; Mr. Addison, and Mr. Roscoe—and people in Birmingham used to say that there were others interested in the affair, for Meeson's was a 'company' (limited). However this may be, Meeson and Co. was undoubtedly a commercial marvel. It employed more than two thousand hands; and its works, lit throughout with the electric light, cover two acres and a quarter of land. One hundred commercial travellers, at three pounds a week and a commission, went forth east and west, and north and south, to sell the books of Meeson (which were largely religious in their nature) in all lands; and five-and-twenty tame authors (who were illustrated by thirteen tame artists) sat—at salaries ranging from one to five hundred a year—in vault-like hutches in the basement, and week by week poured out that hat-work for which Meeson's was justly famous. Then there were editors and vice-editors, and heads of the various departments, and sub-heads, and financial secretaries, and readers, and many managers; but what their names were no man knew, because at Meeson's all the employees of the great house were known by numbers; personalities and personal responsibility being the abomination of the firm. Nor was it allowed to anyone having dealings with these items ever to see the same number twice, presumably for fear lest the number should remember that he was a man and a brother, and his heart should melt towards the unfortunate, and the financial interests of Meeson's should suffer. In short, Meeson's was an establishment created for and devoted to money-making, and the fact was kept studiously and even insolently before the eyes of everybody connected with it—which was, of course, as it should be, in this happy land of commerce."

This opening passage introduces readers to the formidable publishing empire of Meeson's, setting the stage for a narrative that delves into the exploitation within the literary industry and the extraordinary lengths to which individuals will go to secure their fortunes and legacies."