, 1875-10-09

THE HOOK TRADE.
It twas onc IT lin re,nask~ll. faets in thu
first century uG our History tlaat multitude
Of books wcro printed. Tl;cro was then only
I, nnrrow friNgo uf settlements m the htlan-
tie coast, and l,ttte communication betwcnn
them, The cnn,stry ,ns poor. There was nm
copyright. No publisher would asss'rnG tllc
responsibility md riats Of printing ''ook.
notwithstanding these Mtversn circumstances,
many n'rn sought tho costly Immortality Of
type. INCREASE MATnra, who died III i72'i,
left eighty.eight separate works less;rd him,
coryoS MArnEg. who survived llis father five
years. far a1lrpassed him in t'ooknsnking. Tic
wRs the most prolific writer this country
has ever sccn. 1he HEAp1Ers md the Ar
1Iorrs Try IN win to equal him. }9e wrote
and published :}H7 books. or nbont ono per
tnonlh during his ministry. Oscr 1oO OF
Them were printed or reprinted in London.
For century nftor his time, cvery town
which contained printing. press was place
sAers books wero published. rs Into ns
1s23, DR.. NoAH WEBSTER, in order to get nut
the first edition Of his Dictionary, mortgnged
nll I,iH rcal estate nud used tho money thus
borrowed to buy tho paper mud pny the co'n-
,oators. The publishing trado then existca
only in embryo,
Sincs then tho business 1ns hccomo con.
rontratcd in large commercial centres, mud
hrs fallen into tho hnntls of n few firms.
Tho advantages Of thia are obvious. II would
he retrogression of very bad kind to adopt
tho old practtco again. lilo new order Of
things giyca Iii better books, cheaper books,
mud absolutely, though not relatively, moro
books. But there arc also disadvantages, Tho
few firms who monopoliza the b1sinesa can
combine to Keep prices absurdly high, mud
they i,ays tlono 30. American hooks to-day
cost the reader mich more than they should.
Their prices advanced during tho War on ae-
count Of tho increased cost Of materials md
labor. This reason hna mcnsurably ceased to
exist.
hut books, whicl, wont up with paper
md labor, lnve not come down with them.
4 book that sold before tho War for :sI.a5,
now br;nga :1.75 and ~. Tha publishers
discounts to jobbcrs and retRiicrB llnyc not
changed. They rM'go fsoul ;s33 to ~ per
ceut, The retailer can sell at from 20 to
20 por cont l,e1ow tho rites asked, aud still
make living profit. Flo is forbidden to do
10. however, by the trnle-union OF ring to
which tile leading publishers belong. This
union controls not only those who nro vo1un-
tary members of it, hut booksellers who haye
no connection or sympathy with 1t. Unless
thesa ontside dealers Rcll book at tho full
retail price, they are waited upon and warned
by committee of tho combination. If the
! oEonse is repeated, their na1ncs are sent East,
and they aro thereafter refused tho usual
trat1e djacounis by the Eastern publishers,
This amounts To forcing them out Of tho
business. Tiey cannot but submit. Books
aro mental food, rs necessary to tho mind Ms
physical food to tho body, What m outcry
thero would be If tho traffic IN aoue, coffee,
and augar WAS concontratod in tho hands
! Of a few persons who could and did regulate
tho prices Of these articles and Bhut up any
! grocery TINT did not conform to their seized.
| ulo Of prices. Yet this ia what tho publish.
! era' trads-union has done.
Tho result of thia is that literary mon are
| buying as few American books as possible,
| and aro tilliug their ghelYes from foreign
| markets. Public libraries arc doing the SAND
thing. 4 buyer who has become familiar
| with the London market, its prices, its ctli.
| tionH, and its bindings, will be allow 10 come
| buck to tho American market, and submit to
tho rules Of the booksellora' union. The
| combination cannot lust long, but It Is doing
gravo harm nur.
|