Secondly the book was planned in advance.
Its scheme was arranged as a whole, and then the parts were allotted
to each author, with an agreement as to the ground to be covered and the
method to be adopted, in view of the harmonious whole which the authors
had designed. It is not often that circumstances permit of a result so
happy. "Fabian Essays" does not cover the whole field of Fabian
doctrine, and in later years schemes were often set on foot for a second
volume dealing with the application of the principles propounded in the
first. But these schemes never even began to be successful. With the
passage of time the seven essayists had drifted apart. Each was working
at the lines of thought most congenial to himself; they were no longer
young and unknown men; some of the seven were no longer available.
Anyway, no second series of Essays ever approached completion.
[Illustration: _From a photograph By Savony of New York_
MRS. ANNE BESANT, IN 1890]
Bernard Shaw was the editor, and those who have worked with him know
that he does not take lightly his editorial duties. He corrects his own
writings elaborately and repeatedly, and he does as much for everything
which comes into his care. The high literary level maintained by the
Fabian tracts is largely the result of constant scrutiny and amendment,
chiefly by Sidney Webb and Bernard Shaw, although the tract so corrected
may be published as the work of some other member.
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