The weekly Mississippian. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1859-1864, 1860-03-21
For the Mssissippion.
MATTERS And THINGs---No. 4.

{
Brotaels, or the Appletons sell books to si4
lnnakl booksellers from Maine 10 Mississp,
pi, who write to them, send us from six to
; fiity copies (as the case may be- of every new
work Sou issue" Suppose they send only
, SIN aEles to each Of the six hundred book
inenaa over the Union This would make
"oea1copies-a very pretty edition as books
6o--and it must be very stupid book if each
; BOOKSELLER does not get off his siE Copies
Aow.What would be the cost of these &, 600
copies to the publishers in New York? If it
were dollar and quarter book like "Beu-
Ian, would cost to get 1t up possibly forty
centsper copy or four hundred dollars for one
tho'l eopes, or say $3.50 TO print and
> bind s5sr add all. sbe $500 copies. Bhe ste
reotylo plates might be 400 more. Advertis-
ing with donation books to editors for their
pulls $500 moro; making S22OO. The
profits, therefore, on 300 copies would be
S1An if they sold the whole edition to then.
correspondents at 40 cents prime cost. But
they se(t the book TO them wholesale at 20 to
% cents (aay - cents) copy, making on each
book IRON the trade So cents per copy.
Now with this certainty Of not losing on a
look they can afford to offer an author good
price for manuscript even Of inferior merit
Or II bliss A, from the South, young
authoTess, who has offered her Ms to southern
publishers who ask bonus as security
against loss, comes to them they can afford to
give her live or six hundred dollars down for
her book. They run no risk, as they are al
ways sure to sell 5000 copies to their country
friends even though it falls dead from the press
III New York. Six hundred booksellers will
have the book; and if it prove popular, fresh
oficrs are sent for IA new supply" and if it
Prove poor one, a bookseller would hardly
fail to sell his half dozen and save himself
with profit of 10 cents per copy.
Now cur Southern publishers have not that
| system Of correspondents" have not vet or
gained that business relation with all the
| mon which the lIapers, AppIeton's and
others have had in operation thirty and fprtv
/ years and 1t will take time and capital 10 Sc.
ctirr this STATE Of things. know j large
/ Southern bookseller who agreed to publish a
( work FOR an author and to pay him $500
/ But how was it 10 lie done? He said lie
would send the MS on 10 Lippincott or Budd
| * Carleton, get them to get up the book in
Sew ork style and put his the Southern
| bookselier'sl name and town on half the edi-
/ ton that was 10 he sold South, and the y
| \. imprint on what was to supply the North
ern demand Nor was this deception It
/ was SIMPLY question of profit and business.
! lie sad 1t would cost him just double to ret
| the book up himself that it would cost him in
I lew York, and as he was to give half the edi-
ton to the New York publisher in payment
! tor hls ball, 1t was fair business operation -
lie was perfectly justiiable, no doubt, as
business man 1t is proper that all these facts
o. the interesting question Why cannot these
thirty Southern books published in New
lork the last year Gas says the Journal Of
Commerce. be done at home? should be known.
y more important and far more easily man
. ag5eab.e question than this of where shall we
Prs eeul* - : s.Khere shall We educate
our children 2" This subject comes home to
all ofsus who are parents, and it is thing
snucK inore leas,bly done in the South than
our book publishing.
Without dispute, as general rule, our chill
dron are educated by Northern teachers
either nv srudin,r cur cam, .,,1 I,,.h TO-. =.
the North to school, or by employing teachers
from the North to reside in our families and
to instruct in our schools. Now some one
without full knowledge of the subject, would |
have all this changed at once. One editor |
writes, send no more Southern children |
North to be educated but educate them at |
home :" Another says at the close of a long
article full Of feeling, LET lis have no more |
Northern teachers among US. Let us send |
back what We have got, and look to our own |
Southern born instructors to teach our schools |
and be our goyernesses and tutors in our |
planters families in the agricultural districts.
We have got as much intelligence and as ma
ny educated people for teaching as the Yam
KEGS have ~
All this is very true. The education OF
Southerners is not to be questioned. But l
would ask the last editor this question: "If
we send all our Northern teachers back to the
North, lrho will teach the girls and boys whom
the first editor would keep at home for educa-
ton ?
1t is true, there are plenty Of educated peo-
pie who are Southern born, enough to teach
all our children But viH they do it a? What
is the f,ctP Simply this; that almost all those
Southern parents who are able to give their
sons and daughters an education sufficiently
finished and practical to enable them to be-
come teachers" arc usually able to support
them after they leave school so that there is no
necessity Of their becoming teachers; for the
son either goes to planting, or studies medi-
cine or law, and becomes politician while
the daughters are not usually long at home
after they are married, marrying most always
by the time they are eighteen All our well
young men, as rule, enter the pro-
LESSONS, for so inviting is the field of profess
sional life, that young men, even without
means, who are fit to teach feel that they will
be more successful at the bar. Who that
reads this can show me in his county ten
Southern born young men Cor young ladies'
that teach ? Nay FIVE unless that county
contains city. The rest of the young men
md young women OF the State who would
gladly teach if they could, have never been
well enough educated on account of the res
doni to become teachers of the chill ]
lren of the more wealthy!
Where then, if we send our Northern teach
'rs back, are we to find teachers for eur ehl.
lren? Certainly not from among Southern
RS :? The supply would not meet 1.-THE
If the demand. :
But will conclude this interesting subject @
n succeeding paper-a subject which l $
hould be glad to see engage the pens of our
,est men. D. =
@