Publishing, the Rules of the Trade

Henry de Montherlant attends a rehearsal of Malatesta at the Théâtre Marigny in Paris

Decembre 1950, © Rue des Archives/AGIP

The relationship between author and publisher stands at the crossroads of an understanding of the work and the ability to find a public willing to buy it. This was the issue in a break-up between Bernard Grasset and Henry de Montherlant, after successive publishing contracts linking the two. When the contract between them terminated in 1942, the author, dissatisfied with his situation, did not wish to renew it.  The publisher kept up constant pressure on the author by delaying reprints. Montherlant signed with Gallimard for his next book, La Reine morte (1942). After the war, Grasset, placed under administration for collaboration with the German occupant, stopped paying royalties to Montherlant and filed a complaint against him. From 1948 onwards, several judgements were pronounced. Experts tried to establish the conditions under which reprints could be issued, Montherlant’s books could be commercialized and royalties paid to the author. The court ordered the rupture of all contracts between them, the payment of all sums due to Montherlant as well as damages.