written a genuine enduring book, his merit therein, and desert towards England and English and other men, will be considerable, not easily estimable in money; that on the other hand, if his book prove false and ephemeral, he and it will be abolished and forgotten, and no harm done. That, in this manner, your petitioner plays no unfair game against the world; his stake being life itself, so to speak (for the penalty is death by starvation), and the world's stake nothing till once it see the dice thrown; so that in any case the world cannot lose. . . . See also Statute of Anne, the Copyright Act of 1710, which preceded it Copyright Act 1911, which succeeded it Copyright Act 1956 Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 Notes References The companion to the British almanac, for the year 1843, p. 151-3. London, 1843. Chronological table of the statutes; HMSO, London. 1993. External links Copyright Act, London (1842), Primary Sources on Copyright (1450-1900), eds L. Bently & M. Kretschmer, www.copyrighthistory.org. United Kingdom Acts of Parliament 1842 United Kingdom copyright law Copyright legislation