New-York tribune., 1875-07-24
THE BOOKSELLERS WOTEMNNT.

"Iniiuitc riches in little room might s,lyc
q, the motto Of the booksellers Fair The
crr1c,t book production of this country, and
much Of that of England. is shown in hall
seyeniy-fvc feet by hundred ard fifty. and
ia, bool. tr,ido l. like lis commodity-na'ium
IL od,ro. MI OF Shakespeare il put into
thousand ,agcs, for !ifty cents and the book
business of the country, whether by numbers
on production. makes no great show III The
statistical tables. The census gives no salts
factory information, aud lcs, than two years
of Organization has not given the trade
time 10 gather its own figures Tor It
self. The conmc,cial ngcncic- enroll 10000
names as directly or indirectly con-
cc,ncd in the book business. bat a
recent canvass has shown that there are not
five thousand Who may fairly bo ranked ns
hooi sellers, willie three hundred is II liberal
estimate of The book publishers OF importance
At The Fair $4,000 samples ire exhibited, and
5000 would be ample allowance for books
unrcpresrncd Duplicates in extra bindings
would bring this total down to 10000, of
which not more than tw0-thirds ave OF Ameri-
can fAuuiaculc. What annual bu-inc,s these
represent il iS not yet possible to estimate
closely hut the businos> IN book !, noi nearly
80 large ~ that in the mere luxury al jew
ehy. The foremost firm III the trad, makes
les, ralcs than any one Of Il Gozen dry goods
houses, and not moro than five per cent
probably OF those Of the leading firms in
thc icNelry business. The trade Is prominently
before Tie public. for ,hat is iis fife. bat IT,
bnsinrSs bears small proportion TO the com
paaa;iyc space it occupies III the newspapers.
4 competent authority h;.s bazar'd the opinion
that this business might ard ehould be in-
creased neatly fifty per cent.
Ytt tho influence of the book trad, Is not 10
be estimated ly statistical comparisons. Books
may be- taxed 10y weight. bat the scales can
never test their power The b0ckdcalcls are
Themselves claiming rank next 10 the profess
sions and setting their shop next to the church
and the school-housc. To put tie iiglf bool,
into she hand- of the right man is to do much
lii education. And the ncAt bo,i thing Ia
being a genius erc's self j. to strike the spark
that shall kindlc genius in another. 4 book
seller may bccomc guide in literature; the
most wholesome service for his community is
within his scope if he has the brains just TO
interpret for his customers these words of
Ru-kin: "Do you know that if ycu reod this
"you cannot read that :"
The book trade has suffered much from a
difficulty which has been general ana growing
since the war. The reckless desire to make
sal,., despite "puiit and loss" on the one
Lard and on the other that general proclirity
of human nature 10 buy cheap 81 whatever
cost. with oug national fondness for bargains al
whatever lo;a, have led, in the heat OF COM
petition, 70 much unsound trading. New
comels sesliag The trade have obtained rirdit
which manufacturers or iobbers Were only too
" ,ilng 10 Hvc, kept only ihe paying stock
Of he day, aud run their first price, ii low
that t'lcir expense accornt led them into bank,
runtcy--and these have forced wiser traders
into the SINE unwisdom. Mr. Ru-kns politi
cal economy mascS ona point that we
Americans may wei study: sometimes we
can't afford to "buy cheap" When goods
are sold "bclow costn somebody must
"come to gficf.n The publisher and bookseller
share much risk, aud their profit must be CON
,ide,ahlc 10 allow nargin for insurance. Other
vie iho author will soon be in bad way,
and the public too. II is good season in
which the G rcful publisher finds one book in
five really paying. and this must cover actual
loss in two OF the five. The splendid series Of
ool-bcoks with which we surprised the
world at Vienna, cost their publishers much
more than the paper and ink they were made