New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1879-03-08
LONDON LITERARY TOPICS.
THE DEMAND FOR GOOD BOOKS.


BOOKS.
trRoM TIE REGULAR CORRESPONDENT OF THE TRIBUNE
LONDON, Jan. 30.-The market for good DOCKS ol
n solid kind is not closed by the hard times fro-
fessor Seeeys Life aud Times of Stem" puDbsheu
by Macmillan & Co., in three thick Yo volumes Is
n case in point OF such book an edition OF 100
copies would ordinarily I've printed Off and the saeo
il would be slow But 1900 copies OF TINS
were published month ago. and more thah nan
are already disposed Of. Professor Seeley "oiA 10
weighty with learning, and as vlvaclous III s'9io 40
the subject will permit. But presume one secret
of its rand success is the fact that it describes IN
detail the reorganization of the Prusslan Army ny
Stein; and that questions of military organization
are among the burning questions of the day.
Nor is this solitary instance. Mr. BAN tells me
that the book winch sold best among all the serious
nublications of last year was Leckys England III
the Eighteenth Century" THIS must not be taken
TO include novels or such books of travel as Stan
ley's aud Mrs Brassey's, which have merit and
popularity of their own, nor publications INTENDED
ms distinctly for the lowest class of readers as are
the penny dreadful" wceklies with their tremen-
dous stories Many book which IS never seen III a
respectable shop or heard of by the reviewer sells
by scores of thousands. 1t Is matter on when
curious statlstcsmigh be collected.
Still more extraordinary, bearing IN Inlnd the
general tendency TO economy, is the sale oil MI
Stancy's Through the Dark Continent" lhst
book it is true, is still in its first edition but what
an edition! 1t consisted of 5000 copies. The whole
of the 900 copies have been sold by the puOilsh-
ers Messrs. Sampson Low IL Co., and a second
edition of 900 is now being subscribed that
ia sent round among the booksellers, each OF
whom puts down against his name the number OF
COPIES he will take. All such copies are taken
"6rm. to use a financial word. The booksellers III
this country whatever they may be elsewhere, are
not agents of the publishers but do BUSINESS al thc
own risk II they dispose of their purchases 10
the public, well and good. If not, they must Dear
the loss. Such sale that of Mr.. Stanley's Work
is l believe, absolutely without precedent. Inc
book was issued at two guineas $50, price al
which few publishers would venture on printing
6,OO0 copies, or half that number. But Messrs
Sampson Low d Co. showed both enterprise and
good judgment in this case. as they dd in Mr.
Eugene Schuyer's "Turkestan y; also a twO-gulnea
book, and now in its fifth edition. hear
that they paid Mr.. Stanley $4,000 The
nearest approach know of to that Is the $25,OOO
which Messrs Macmillan 81 Co. handed over TO
Sir Samuel Baker for his Ismailia, which proved,
fear. less successful speculation SIT Samuel
Bakers popularity was then on the wane; MI STAN
Iev's was at its height when he came back from us
last African journey, and for months he was one OF
the lions of London. tho guest of the Geographical
Society, and the hero of countless controversies.
lie is still lecturng in the provinces. and Is con-
Cerned in some commercial enterprise with refer
ence to the Livingstone Rver-an enterprise OF
sufficient importance and promise TO justify him
in declining a brilliant offer from a COM
panv of Manchester men who sought to
float n large undertaking by help of his name
and Of his unrivailcd knowledge of the country.
Mcssrs Sampson Low & Co. announce also a trans
lation by Mrs Lang of Rambaud's " History Of
Russia with SIX maps and some Illustrations,
vols $40, 80 30. 4 still more expensive work
from the same house Is Mr.. john ThOmsOn's
Through Cyprus with the Camera "-sixty large
photographs IN ? royal Alto volumes, for which
custom IS expected at $50. note informs the
loyal public that copy has been ordered for the
Royal Library at Windsor. They too are the pub
fishers of Mr.. Grattan Geary's "Asiatic Turkey"
2 vols. crown Svo 81. Mr.. Geary is editor of The
Times Of India, and though it might be supposed
that people were weary of Oriental politics, this
and all similar books find a market.
1t NAV be said that these are brilliant exceptions
but | don't think they are. Neither the publishing
nor bookselling business is suffering IN anything like
the proportion to which other branches of industry
and commerce are subject. The list of new books
and new editions is long one, and costly works
are numerous. Two volumes of Mr. Justin McCar- !
thy's History of Oar Own Times from the ac-
cessIon of Queen Victoria to the Berlin Congress-
appeared fortnight since. 1t is to be completed
in four svo volumes at SO, and a second edition
OF the first two is now ready, say MesSrs Chatto u
Nindus. at all booksellers" and at every library
in the kingdom, the usual formula in which The
success of popular work Is proclaimed
Mcssrs Strahan 4 Co. announce the ghth edition of
DR.. Cunningham GeikIc's Life and Words of
Christ" at SO for two large Svo volumes. DR. Far
rars Life of Christ is, think, in ITS twenty
fourth edition, and may he had illustrated or III Its
original expensive shape. Mr.. Val Prinseps I'm
perial India Is published by Messrs. Chapman u
Hall at SO. MessrS Longmans n Co.. a firm who
do business on strictly business principles, even see
their way to the printing Of tragedy 10y an author
who cOnhdes to the public only the initials ). /. H.,
with Brian BOru for subject. Mr.. Spencer Wal
poles History Of England from the Conclusion of
the Great War in 1919" bears the imprint of the
same firm and two svo volumes of it have sold
largely at 80. The Tories point to II with pride in
proof that there are "dam literary felleTs,"
in their own ranks well as among
the Liberals and II is not, in fact, bad book from
n Tory point of vIew The Land Of indian Rcyis-
ted by that interchangeable writer. Captain Burton,
vols svO -, with numerous illustrations; Mach
iavc and His Times" by Villari, vols, post svo,
IS; and Firms "S,rring Times" vols. deny
Svo 81 80, are all published by Mcssrs c. kegan
Paul 4 Co The same firm have nowlsSued cabinet
edition of Charles Kingsey's Letters and Lite,
vols. crown Svo, 81. after selling dozen editions
and more of the original book at twice the price.
This is one Of those ventures which have outrun all
calculation. MeSsIs BiackwO0d ~ Co., mean
fine. have completed their uniform edition of
George Elot's works in 10 vols, crown Svo $2i
an edition readable and handy enough, but printed
on paper of inferior quality. know The AheaGam
praises it, but there is poorer authority than Tie
Atheuauia on bookmakng, or photographed mat