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Literary Topics
333. Abridgements; Literary
Property
He said, our judges had not gone deep in the question concerning
literary property. I mentioned Lord Monboddo's opinion, that if
a man could get a work by heart, he might print it, as by such an
act the mind is exercised. Johnson: "No, Sir; a man's
repeating it no more makes it his property, than a man may sell a
cow which he drives home." I said, printing an abridgement of a
work was allowed, which was only cutting the horns and tail off
the cow. Johnson: "No, Sir, 'tis making the cow have a
calf."
Boswell: Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides
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673. Anonymity; Literary Property
On his knowledge of the status of some sermons he had ghost-
written for others: "I have been paid for them, and have no
right to inquire about them."
Sir John Hawkins: The Life Of Samuel Johnson, LL.D.
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