St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1878-10-18
Our New York Letter.

THE GREAT BOOK sALE-soMETHING
ABOUT DICTIONARIES - THE SUIT
AGAINST TILDEN WHAT THE Ex-
GOVERNOR LOOKS LIKE-PREsIDENT
HAYES VISIT.
NEW YORK, Oct. A, 1873.
To the Editor of the CaIedonian:
The semi-annual trade book sale here
is always an interesting occasion, and is
one which grows in Importance year by
Year. Its idea, when first instituted,
was to enable publishers and dealers to
clear off by auction, each spring and
fall, the surplus, or unstable stock,
which they might find on hand at the
time of its occurrence. By degrees,
however, this use of the trade sale be-
came secondary to another, namely, the
ascertaining of the real market value of
different works, by putting up small
lots of each, and noting the prices OBJ
tanned. Doing this year by year, and
comparing the figures brought by any
given book ut different times, furnishes
the publisher the most reliable indica-
cations of the growth or decline of its
popularity. Nearly all the great pub
fishing houses now avail themselves of
this method, which has, in consequence,
gained great Importance. The fall sale
for 1873, just closed, lasted eight days,
and disposed of large quantity of
books.
1t was a noticeable fact that the
heavier classes of reading found the
greatest favor. Scientific and religious
works brought relatively larger figures
than either new or standard fiction,
Buckle and John Stewart Mill leading
Dickens and Thackeray, and Webster's
Dictionary being held at sitter prices
than anything else in the catalogue.
More than 1000 of the various editions
were sold, and had the publishers been
willing to drop fifty cents from their
usual rates, 10000 copies of the Una
bridged could have been easily dis
posed of.
Seeing these facts in the report of the
trade sale, reminds me of flying visit
that | made to the Office of the Merri-
ans, when in Springfield few months
ago. This firm, owning and publishing
the remarkable Unabridged" was
started under the style of G.. & C. Mer-
liam, as far back as 1881, and for full
generation its founders were it's only
members. Of late years third brother
has been admitted, but no change was
made in the name, which will soon have
~ nj a ha1f
The concern published at first only law
books; but coming at length into rela-
tions with Noah Webster, their atten-
tiOn was turned to educational publish
ing, aud they issued the famous "Web-
ster's Speller," of which they still own
the copyright, and of which, | sup
pose, some forty or fifty millions of
copies must have been printed. Their
great work, however, has been the pub
lication of the dictionary, and this, l
firmly believe, has been and still is to
them as much Il labor of love as of profit
The shrewdness, hberality and vigor
with which they have handled it from
the start are the admiration of the
whole book trade, and can hardly fail
to have been remarked by the most
casual observer. Having been impress
ed by these qualities one is hardly pre-
pared for the quiet and rather quaint,
Old-fashioned air of the venerable office,
itself located on a side street of a pro-
vincial city, where so much important
and effective work is planned, and
whose influence is co-extensive with the
language.
During my brief call here l saw more
of interest than | have space to de-
scribe. | was shown, among other
things. a copy of the first aRevised
Edition" of the dictionary published in
l847 and by comparing this with the
latest copy, could obtain good idea as
to the changes and growth of our ety.
mology during these thirty years. The
way in which Webster's has been made
to keep pace with this constant pro-
gress, and even to aid and shape the