When Ashes was republished in 1902 with the title Wasted Fires: A Romance of Australia and England, Nisbet announced: 'The sketch, from which this romance was carefully re-written and re-arranged, appeared twelve years previously under the title of "Ashes"' (The Daily Chronicle, 18 August, 1902). The 1902 edition was withdrawn and an Author's Edition was issued in 1904 with an explanatory preface. He had not included a Preface in the 1902 edition, explaining its history (as he did afterwards with many titles) and had not told his publisher about the earlier 1890 edition, Ashes. He was accused of fraudulent practice by his publisher and by a writer to the Athenaeum. The matter was settled out of court.
