The Outline of History
''The Outline of History'', subtitled either "The Whole Story of Man" or "Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind", is a work by H. G. Wells chronicling the history of the world from the origin of the Earth to the First World War. It appear ...
Florence Amelia Deeks was born in 1864 and grew up in
Morrisburg, Ontario
Morrisburg is an unincorporated community in the Municipality of South Dundas, located in Eastern Ontario, Canada.
History
On November 11, 1813, the Battle of Crysler's Farm, at which a British force repelled an invading American army, took pla ...
, in a religious family. Her mother, Melinda, was a strong believer in education. Her brother George found a new way to lay railway tracks, which enabled him to earn a fortune. He provided important financial support to his family, including Florence during the later legal trials. By her own account she spent most of her twenties travelling in Europe and America, studying literature and art. When Florence was thirty she was admitted to Victoria College in the
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 ...
. She studied there for several years, then became a teacher at the Presbyterian Ladies College.
Deeks probably joined the
Women's Art Association of Canada
The Women's Art Association of Canada (WAAC) is an organization founded in 1887 to promote and support women artists and craftswomen in Canada, including artists in the visual media, performance artists and writers. At one time it had almost 1,000 ...
in the mid-1890s, although the first record of her membership is from 1903. In 1912 she prepared a "historical sketch" of the early years of the association. She was active in other women's groups and was the recording secretary for the Toronto women's Liberal Club.
Web of the World's Romance
Deeks decided to write a history of the world that showed the contributions that women had made.
Her aim was to demonstrate the importance of women such as Lucrezia de' Medici,
Elizabeth I of England
Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen".
Eli ...
and Margarethe, mother of
Martin Luther
Martin Luther (; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, theologian, author, hymnwriter, and professor, and Augustinian friar. He is the seminal figure of the Protestant Reformation and the namesake of Lutherani ...
. She spent four years researching and writing, with the support of her mother, sisters and brother. The manuscript of ''The Web of the World's Romance'' was complete by February 1918.
Deeks submitted it to Macmillan Company in Canada, asking if they would object to her using extracts from ''A Short History of the English People'', a book for which they held the copyright.
Deeks entrusted the manuscript to Macmillan in August 1918, and it was returned to her in April 1919.
The manuscript was well-thumbed and dog-eared. Macmillan had rejected it.
Legal struggles
Deeks later came across H. G. Wells' ''
The Outline of History
''The Outline of History'', subtitled either "The Whole Story of Man" or "Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind", is a work by H. G. Wells chronicling the history of the world from the origin of the Earth to the First World War. It appear ...
'' (published 1919-1920), and was struck by the similarities to her work, but she had no proof that Wells had seen her manuscript. Over the next few years she consulted with experts and analyzed the similarities. The Rev. William Andrew Irwin, then an associate professor of Old Testament Languages and Literature at the University of Toronto agreed to help her. He was interested in applying the same methods of textual analysis and comparison he used in his studies of ancient literature.
He considered that there was convincing proof of plagiarism.
Deeks launched her suit in 1928.
Deeks claimed breach of copyright, but in substance she was claiming breach of confidence in the use of her manuscript without consent.
She sued Wells and Macmillan for damages of CDN$500,000 in the
Supreme Court of Ontario
The Supreme Court of Ontario was a superior court of the Canadian province of Ontario. Created in 1881 pursuant to the Ontario Judicature Act (1881), the Supreme Court of Ontario had two branches: the High Court of Justice Division and the Appell ...
.
The trial judge, Mr Justice Raney, found that Irwin's results were "fantastic hypotheses ... solemn nonsense ... comparisons without significance."
Her case was dismissed.
She then appealed to the Appellate Division of the Ontario Supreme Court, appearing on her own behalf without a lawyer.
The Appellate Division unanimously dismissed the appeal.
Deeks finally appealed to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London, the final court of appeal in the British Empire.
She could no longer afford a lawyer, so argued her own case in front of the Judicial Committee on 1 October 1932.
A month later, on 3 November 1932, the Judicial Committee dismissed her appeal.
Lord Atkin
James Richard Atkin, Baron Atkin, (28 November 1867 – 25 June 1944), commonly known as Dick Atkin, was an Australian-born British judge, who served as a lord of appeal in ordinary from 1928 until his death in 1944. He is especially remember ...
gave the decision for the Committee. He stated that evidence presented on the basis of literary criticism is not admissible in a court of law, and upheld the decisions of the lower courts.
Assessment
Although the wording of the two books is rarely identical, in some cases the same mistakes appear in both books.
However, it was sworn on oath at the trial that the manuscript remained in Toronto in the safekeeping of Macmillan, and that Wells did not even know it existed, let alone had seen it.
The court found no proof of copying, and decided the similarities were due to the fact that the books had similar nature and both writers had access to the same sources.
The case may have been lost in part due to bias against Deeks as a woman.
Deeks' lack of influential connections may also have been a factor.
A 2001 book by A. B. McKillop, a Canadian historian, explores the case in detail. Although the author clearly believes that Wells plagiarized Deeks' work, he presents no definitive proof.
Three years after McKillop's book appeared, Denis Magnusson, Professor Emeritus and former Dean of Law at
Queen's University, Kingston
Queen's University at Kingston, commonly known as Queen's University or simply Queen's, is a public research university in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Queen's holds more than of land throughout Ontario and owns Herstmonceux Castle in East Sus ...
, wrote an article responding to McKillop's thesis. Magnusson concluded that while Deeks may have received some discriminatory treatment from lawyers in the case, she was treated fairly by the courts.
He concludes she had a weak case, and the courts would give a similar result if the case came forward at the present time.