The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1818-08-07 00:00:00

Co P

MINUTES OF EVIDENCE
TWIN •ata•S
TAR COMMITTIR ON ACT, assrscitga COPT.
RIGHTS OP /MOVED 8091111.

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( Csatiared frosts mer Paper of Yesterday.)

Yam* I die Aprills. IEI3.
DAVIE* GIDDY, Esq. iu doe Chair.

?I. learend ibeasai_FrocuallDilad, m's Exanaitaiiou—

dee yam periodos( the Ilillainthera Spenceriana ?—I ans.
What will be the muss to you • r &hireling clews. copies of
thus ?...1). I winientsuri that trestiow in the same way I do
the ether, am Iv the veal root is paper and printing, or the
peke delivered Mt the public?
What will he the euat to you ma not prepsred to an-
vane that, beemsee it is sot half printed ; hot I think I eisulil
tote Iwo oe to say, within the boon& of maws% that it
mould oast tae, perhaps. wswiewhere about fuer grim monads
per copy ; lye pomade, I 'Mak, at least.
Committeerilais is misled may am one sited paper ?
Yes ; it is on Iwo papers; hot it la at the same price fur
ewb
Mr.eraremr-. Will that be the whole less to you, or will
yew lam the cast of the movies ? I do mot understand the
spiestiets,
Creasittee...Do you mean a copy of the work !—Yes; if
tea volumes, it would be of the whole.
dud it would be bl. • volume?—lics; that is epee the
sotaN paper.
That M at the mime east 1... Tn.
Yoe meats that upset be volssar?—Tes ; we understand it
to be a, espy of the work, whether It be use volume or lei ;
that is ea the small peper.
Mr. Tamer—Have say of the ekven libraries subscribed
la year books!—Yes.
COW you state them ?—Tbe Bodkins has sot ; the Trinity
College, Dahlia, has only one, the Typographical Asti-
Committee..-Has the University's library of *Cambridge?
—No.
Na. the Radish Stamens' ?—.No.
kir. Turser.sDo you think that the delivery of the eleven
copies to those libraries will Mutat the sal. of a wink ?—I
should AM' sot; because in the first place, wbrerver
say wont is published, there it such a general of
knowledge. sod such an increase of purchasers, to what
there was fifty ur arty years ago, and the character of the
outdoor of that work is cussidered, that in getters! we find •
work which is is keel/ goad or earful, ur likely so t• be, is
pretty generally taken within pedmps a twelvemonth ur a
year sad • half of its publication; and the seeuud reason
why I draw that emmlusion is, that the works iirlieered ise
public libraries, as far se I cats judge, ant very little con-
sulted.

_As you hays urines on the Whey of printing, and are
winds conversant with printing, du pun b. !eve it pumas*
leaflet the present Cllll4OOll of charging fur printing by the
ratio of 2501-11 should think decidedly nut.
Carniattten-.-Even un au allowance of mere money to the
priaters?—l should think not.
Tuner..-Will the compulsory delivery of eleven
ampere operate, er net, to the injury of literature, in your
opinion ?...Certainly it is • question that embraces au rolueli,
I "mid not give at. opinion upon it; but the only thing I
fed on it here is, whether the law Is teats rernopectiVfli 4011
any felon work; beguile I hum* it would, in my own si-
tuation, ba attended with • direct grievance; but if it is
pengressivelyou author would shape his publication accord-
ingly, and be able to meet that probable drawbeck
Will he berate genially to advance his price, without ia-
jury the see of hie work should think,' guserailly
speaking; but there is oat important exception to it, which
ev, the nate,e of the omit published, sad the eirmlwr of
espies. l rill mention nue work, which just comes snow
my mind, Cionglib firrilebral 31111111111411111. There are some
works as expensive in the getting up, and upon whoa
them must be • limited number, and on that number an
entire feria fee reuseepeestiole If be Kilo, enure than 300
copies, er IN, it I. liable to Jejune hint, because there are
nut purchasers beyond that number.
Coarniiittia.-What is the price of that murk ?—I should
think it M now, owing to so iterideal by Are, 701. or 1101.
What was the original price!—About 251.
Du yogi coon ire that the operation of the demand of
these eleven copies might tend to discuurage the publication
of several works cakulated fur only • entail number of pun.
chimers ?—I should think it might; hecati-e winks of that
nature arc generally expensive works, irons the plater,
sad a variety gaudier things; and the delivery of those. levels
espies, even at the cost prier, would oetes*arily be a dete-
riaration to the others.

Frew your experience. and the conversations you Wee
had with paliiieliers, du you coot-rive that the expense of
those eleven tapirs would be taken to be of suck serious con-
sideration ►y the publisktrs, as to make 'been doubt whe-
ther the, siiwohl or nut puLlisb?—Certainly. If the work be
of the mature I describe.

Speaking of the works of which ilwre are only 250 elsies?
—Two kuudred and fifty ur three humbled furies.
In the iastaners you give of the Sepulchral Monuments,
whirls rigs state to be 251. a copy, do you imagine, if they
had been 26/ a copy, the sale would lie retarded ?-1 think
net ; because, whew it reaches that magnitude, pei sons make
up their mind; but is winks of U. or 0/. it would make a
distinction.

.....
Do you not conceive, that by adding to the price of the
whole "mealier of such works brought into the mai ket, it
would canoe a proportion in the defalcation of sonic use or
other of them ?—I should answer that, by saying it 'night
epos some; I am hardly able to answer a question of than
sort ; I believe I can mention the case of Peray's Combo-
logy, which is a very expensive work.
Have you nut observed, in your experience among pub-
lishers, that they are very minute eakulaturs of the expense
of a work before they well undertake it, and that their opi-
nion is very utiles barred by a very Naivete expense, libeller,
they will undertake it ?—1 believe it in so.
It has been stated, that upon an edition of CSO copies,
the tax is 4i per cent. upon the selling price, and it ha■
alms bees stated, that the actual cost of a work, is half the
selling price; therefore, calculating the tax would he 2} per
cent. do you think t►at, epos en edition consisting of 2bo
copies, an additional price of ll} per teat. would affect or
dimming, the mala ?—1 should think, certainly, that small
per ender would sot affect tie sale.