There was an additional handwritten clause in the contract between Lawson and Lothian. It stated that the publisher would ‘pay to the Author the sum of Ten pounds on account of royalties on the signing of the agreement.’ An advance on royalties is not uncommon. In this case it represented advance payment to the author for sales of 600 copies. Given Lawson's popularity and reputation, it was a reasonable but still modest advance. However, the request was a portent of things to come.

The abstemiously inclined Lothian would probably have known of Lawson's drinking problem but he was most likely unaware of his domestic and financial situation. Shortly after his return from England in 1902, Lawson's marriage broke up and he was subsequently dogged by money problems. Failing to meet maintenance obligations for his two children, he was twice gaoled in 1905. With support from friends, journalism and a generous advance from Angus and Robertson for a proposed autobiography, he was able to cover his regular payments, and had no court appearances between July 1905 and 31 December 1907.1 In early October 1906, however, he received a letter from his wife, Bertha, which read in part:

From the time of receiving this letter, Lawson's behaviour was more and more bound up with struggling to meet his parental obligations. Colin Roderick in his biography of Lawson argues4 persuasively that Lawson's dealings with Lothian had more to do with keeping the Sheriff at bay than a desire to fulfil his terms of their contract. One would have to add that drink and a confused state of mind also played a factor. All three were no doubt linked. Roderick even suggests5 that by 1908 Lawson was bipolar. It is also possible that there were early signs of dementia caused by excessive drinking, although Lawson was only just 40.

The correspondence between Lawson and Lothian over 1907,6 interspersed with other Lawson letters of the time, paints a revealing picture of confusion and possible deception on Lawson's part, and increasing frustration on that of Lothian.

On 7 March Lothian wrote to Lawson about the copy Lawson had sent him:

Lawson's response two days later would have shocked Lothian:

Lawson wrote again some nine days later on 18 March to thank Lothian for the return of one of his stories:

The letter was typed from the Bulletin office but Lawson added the following note in pencil:

By April 1907 Lothian had begun to lose patience. On 20 April he wrote to Lawson:

It was about this time that Lawson changed his agreement with Lothian from a royalty-based one to that of outright sale of copyright. He signed a new agreement on 29 April which read:

The fact that Lawson physically signed the agreement, together with the reference to material ‘left in this office', suggests that Lawson came down to Melbourne with another parcel of manuscripts. This is probably the occasion that the office-boy found Lawson lying drunk in front of Lothian's office door on a Monday morning after Lawson had come to down to Melbourne by boat from Sydney.8

According to Roderick, it was about this time that Lawson scribbled the following separate notes to George Robertson of Angus and Robertson, admitting to duplication on his part. The first stated:

While the second read:

Many years after his dealings with Lawson, Lothian added the following brief pencil note11 to the Lawson manuscripts in his possession:

Lothian responded on 9 May with the following note:

He also agreed to send a copy of their agreement, and added that ‘[t]he proofs will also follow on shortly’ and that ‘I am getting your book done by linotype this time as I have stuck a very good new fount’.

Under pressure from Bertha Lawson, according to Roderick,12 Lawson had their solicitor write to Lothian regarding the new publishing arrangement. The letter, dated 15 May, began by saying that he was acting for Lawson ‘who wishes me to write you with reference to the agreement he has entered into with you re the publishing of his book’ and that Lawson has told him that some thirty-five pounds is due to him, ‘but does not know when such money should be available'. The letter concludes with a request for a copy of the agreement and the pertinent query: ‘would you … also inform me when the money will be available as Mr Lawson has some pressing demands.’

Lothian sent a copy of the agreement to Lawson's solicitor on 17 May, stating:

Also on 17 May, Lothian sent Lawson the first set of proofs for correction.

In early June Lawson wrote to Lothian:

Fortunately for Lawson, Lothian was in Adelaide on business. The letter was opened by either his father or his brother,14 who replied promptly saying that Thomas was away,

This was a coup for Lawson. By managing to persuade George Robertson to give him 35 pounds on the strength of a promissory note from Lothian, he had secured the balance of his 50 pounds in advance. One can only speculate whether Thomas Lothian would have agreed to the promissory note arrangement had he been in Melbourne to receive both Robertson's and Lawson's letters. A month later he prudently obtained a receipt from Lawson for the full payment of 50 pounds for the right and interests in various listed stories and a parcel of verse.

Lawson, having got (and quickly spent) his 35 pounds, sought other avenues of publication to raise money and neglected his publishing contract with Lothian. Sometime in August or September 1907, Lothian wrote to him about the two proposed books:

Lawson's response was to blame the Lone Hand for the delay. He had great faith in his story ‘The Editor of the Comet', the ‘new humorous work’ he had alluded to in his letter to Lothian of 18 March. The Lone Hand was planning to publish The Editor of the Comet’ before it appeared in the Lothian collection. Lawson showed Lothian's letter to Frank Fox, editor of the Lone Hand, who wrote on it in blue ink across the top: ‘I can't publish Comet until November’.

Lawson then sent the letter back to Lothian on 23 September, saying:

A somewhat frustrated Lothian replied the next day:

Lawson again showed or sent Lothian's letter to Frank Fox who wrote on it: Quite impossible to use ‘The Editor of the Comet'16 Now [Nov]. I am just going to press and have ‘Strangers Friend’ in type and illustrated so you must keep back that item from book publication as yet.

And again Lawson replied by returning the letter to Lothian with another of his own. On 1 October he wrote:

About this time Lothian went on a business trip to England. He returned late in December via Sydney and met with Lawson. Their meeting led to the somewhat acrimonious exchange of letters. Henry appears to have sent two on the same day.17 The first asked Lothian to ‘kindly send me back copies of “The Stranger's Friend” and “Mateship”’ while the second was marked ‘Private’ and read:

Lothian replied almost immediately:

Lothian did not return the two stories as requested but nor did Lawson ever return the promised proofs.

Correspondence was eventually resumed. On 6 July 1910 Lawson responded to a letter (now apparently lost) from Lothian, presumably about postponing the publications, saying:

But with their relationship soured and Lawson admitting to losing the proofs of ‘Triangles of Life', coupled with the fact that the Sydney printer engaged to do the printing went broke,18 no further proofs for the time being were sent to Lawson and the Lawson collections were put aside. However, Lothian did proceed with Lawson's suggestion of printing Mateship and The Stranger's Friend which appeared as part of his Miniature series of Australian authors in 1911. But it was to be a further two years before the contracted collections of stories and verse were to appear.19

Lawson's erratic behaviour was not the only reason for the delayed publication of the two books. As Cecily Close demonstrates in her accompanying article, Lothian was planning and overseeing an ambitious publishing program in the years from 1907 until the early years of the First World War. In addition to the many books, there was also the literary periodical, The Native Companion (1907-08). He also moved offices in 1910, resulting in a ‘great deal of confusion'.20

Lothian travelled again to England in late 1911, leaving the affairs of his business in Melbourne to his manager, Mr E.A. Wood. The cable news of the latter's sudden death reached Lothian on only his second or third day in London. He immediately tried to book a return passage but could not obtain a berth for three to four weeks. He arrived back in Australia in late January or early February with ‘a mountain load of paperwork and business to catch-up on'.21

In 1912 he also began his involvement in the Standard Publishing Company, a business that distributed books by subscription directly to the public rather than through the trade. On 28 August 1912 Lothian wrote to his London printer, Butler and Tanner, about the business:

Lothian's business relationship with Butler and Tanner was a close and friendly one, and the firm usually handled the English distribution of most of the books published by Lothian between 1909 and the beginning of the First World War.

Despite the delays and setbacks, the Lawson books were still in Lothian's publishing program. On 15 January 1913 he wrote to Butler and Tanner with clear instructions for the printing and binding of the two books. The letter read:

Butler and Tanner replied on 21 February:

On 7 March proofs of the poems were sent to Lothian with a note, pointing out that there were several ‘queries for the Author to kindly answer'. A week later proofs of the prose volume were posted to Australia, again coupled with a cautionary note that ‘in several places the copy you sent me is not complete, but no doubt the Author can supply the missing words’.

On 9 April Lothian returned the proofs of the poems, saying:

Lothian wrote to Butler and Tanner on 22 April 1913 regarding the proofs of the prose volume:

Some two weeks later the ‘corrected’ proofs were sent back to Butler and Tanner:

By late June 1913 the books were almost finished. An advance copy of For Australia was dispatched by Butler and Tanner on 4 July, but there was a slight delay with Triangles of Life as the ‘proofs have required a certain amount of editing'. The first consignment of both titles was shipped to Australia in late July and invoices for their printing were sent by Butler and Tanner on 1 August. That for Triangles of Life had an additional cost, as the ‘charges for Authors corrections includes a second special reading, the Author having been very careless in correcting his slip proofs’.

Both titles appeared under the imprint of the Standard Publishing Company. On 9 April 1913 Lothian had written to his contact at Butler and Tanner, H. Aris, about his plans for both books, also asking him to act as the company's London agent. The latter agreed to do this after seeking approval from his employers. In this role he made attempts to place the volume of Lawson's short stories, firstly with Fisher Unwin and later with other English publishers, but to no avail.

The sheets of the For Australia and Triangles of Life remained with Butler and Tanner who arranged binding for Lothian in lots on demand. In 1916 the two titles were reissued using the original sheets under the imprint of the Lothian Book Publishing Company. For Australia eventually went out of print, but as late as 1929 copies of Triangles of Life were still available from the publisher at six shillings a copy.30

Despite his unrewarding and frustrating dealings with Henry Lawson, Lothian was still willing to chip in when the Lawson hat was sent round after the author's death. In 1928 he became a Life Member of the Footscray-based Henry Lawson Memorial Society, and in 1931, as one of Lawson's publishers, wrote a one-page testimonial to be read at the society's annual meeting.

The handsome certificate with which Lothian was presented by the Henry Lawson Society in 1938 stated that Life Membership was awarded for ‘Unselfish and Generous Services rendered to this Society and Australian Literature generally'. It was an appropriate form of recognition. Given the history of their publishing relationship, and their respective backgrounds and characters, Henry Lawson and Thomas Lothian could hardly be described as kindred spirits, let alone friends. But both men — the Scottish-born Australian publisher and the Australian-born author — were for Australia.

John Arnold is Head of the School of Political and Social Inquiry in the Faculty of Arts at Monash University. A long-time member and office-bearer of the Friends of the State Library of Victoria/Library Foundation, he was one of the co-editors of the 1981 Henry Lawson issue of the La Trobe Library Journal.