The sun., 1878-04-28
THE GERMiN- iMERTCtN BOOK TRIDE

THE GERMiN- AMERICiN BOOK TRADE.
The striking change which has taken
place both NJ 10 quantity and quality. in the en-
igration from Germany during the past two or
three decades is rcfe etcd in the growth Of the
German american book trade. We find some
valuable statistics bearing on the expansion Of
the book importing and publishing business
among our German fellow citizens. collected by
FnIDIicu kArp for Berlin review. the
D,iUScie Ruolschdu.
Prior to the collapse Of the revolutionary
movements throughout Germany. in lsIs the
stream of cmigrants from that country was
relatively inconsidcralle. and drawn almost
exclusively from the lahoring clnss Dispersed
among the agricultural rrsiune OF the West. and
only To- u slight extent congrcgating in the larger
cities. the new comcrs rapidly lost what little
interest they may have taken in German hooks
and newspapers at homc. and were gradually
absorbed in the mass Of the nglish-spculing
population. Even In PENNSYLVANIA. whore. at
an early period Of colonial history. mrg, num-
bcrs had formed themselves into distinct com
munitics. the descendants OF these settlers used
mixed dialect. largely made up Of English
words. and were seldom able to read a work
written iu High German. Accordingly. the
earliest German booksellers who were t. be-
found. as We should expect. in lhiiadclphia.
were content To oficr a stock of Bibles. cate
chisms. nnd other religious manuals. song
books and folk taos; amt. naturally too. the
initial ventures OF German American pub
fishers took the same direction. Since the
same causes. moreover. which stintcd the de-
mand Tor literature uf II high order made the
founding Of newspapers imrradicablc the few
lllNli nm rttI l..
known To customers. not by advertise
mcnts. but h. colporcur>. So late as 1915
the report Of Rudolf Garriguc. who had been
sent ont by an association of large publishing
HOUSES in Germany 10 insper; the field Of
business in the United States. Was SO dscour-
nsing that the PROJECT II u general agency was
a. nnlonel. II j. true. however. that two years
later "a firm of hpoksrllcr--Ilcluirh n Co.. now
represented 10y /. W. Schmili-was established
in New York. and displayed an activity which
WIS hut ill remunrraied. while IN the course of
the twcivemonth their example WIS followed 10y
Garrigue. towhose husn,-, Sir f. W. Chrsicrn
has rucc iodcd. one year alterward the Bruus-
wick house Of Wcstermann Bros. started u
branch in the same city.
The astounding Increase in tho volume Of
German cm.- grafton after ISIS had a less direct
bearing Oh the German American book trade
than the large pcrc, utHge now for the first time
contributed by the well to do and the well cdu-
Gated II was during thc ncNtt.n years that
majority of the firms now in existence We're
founded In tho great cities Of the East AMI West.
and 10y their strenuous comp 'tition brought the
most substantial and admirable publications
oi the L"ip1lg. Stuttgart. and Berlin dealers
within easy rea IA oi German customers in
America. By ARRANGEMENTS With the large
houses at home. whole editions OF the standard
authors We're imported into this country and
sold iOr Il third or even nth Of the prices for
mcrly obtained. Soon the German American
booksellers in New York. Philadelphia. and
Boston began 20 publish on their own account.
and the Northern States were fairly flooded
with reprints of the classic or popular poets
and novellst- of Germany. ON the whole. those
tentative sprculaiiuns undertaken ou too large
: 'a.c. ai,l irtume.lel by g mprttiou On luth
sides Of the Atlantic. brnu. .Atin y'ry little profit:
yet some II tucm w.re highly sWece--iul as.
ior instance. tLr clitioa ~ llrinc issued by
John WeiL at Philadelphia in 1855. A. u rule.
however. the rrpriniug of school books has
proved most lucrative and Of late years strong
and sagacious firms have tended 70 concentrate
their publishing enterprise upon works Of this
character
The year 1873 must be pronounced the cul-
miuating point o., the German book trade IN
America. and faw figures Will show the large
proportions 90 which ine importation Of books
and periodicals had expanded az about that
date. as we'll u~ the subsequent fallm. or. Thus
In $50 the net value of German books imported
WIS ;i6-.Ouu. while that oi English books
scarcely exceeded million. Three years
later. Germany sent Us books valued
at s9l6.puu. against an English consign-