New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1881-08-28


paired the loss of one very valuable woman by the
acquisition of another still more valuable" One
cannot help wondering how the first Mrs. Lacking
ton would have relished this estimate. The book
selling business continued to flourish. but, he
says, having begun to think nationally" Lacking
ton did not long remain in Mr.. Wesleys society.
That great preacher, informed, "told his
society in Broadmead, England, that he could
never keep bookseller six months in his flock At
that time / had not the least idea of my ever be-
coming bookseller; but no sooner began to give
scope to my reasoning faculties than the above
markable assertion occurred to my mind"
In 1878 Lackngton took partner Mr. John
Dennis. who put in some capital which was sorely
needed in the business. al was" says Lackngton,
several times hard put to it for cash to purchase
parcels of books which offered me, that moro
than once pawned my watch aud a suit of clothes,
and twice pawned some books for money to pur-
chase Others" Dennis put his own private library
into the stock. This consisted of old, mystical
alchymical books Trade went on briskly. The
new concern took in twenty pounds the first week.
which was thought tC be large sum. But after
two years there came MISUNDERSTANDING between
the partners. and Mr. Dennis went out From
about this period Lackngton resolved to give no
person whatever any credit refusing it to the
most respectable characters, as no exception was
made in favor of the nobility his porters being
enoined by one general order, to bring back all
the amount on delivery" Booksellers maligned the
cheap book-shop, and some of them were mean
enough to assert that all Lackington's books were
bound in sheep" whereas he had on sale thousands
of volumes in elegant and superb bindings" But
envy and detractJn awaited not against him His
first catalogue contained twelve and the second
thirty thousand volumes. He mentions singular
characteristic of the tradeat that time, When at
tending trade sales he much surprised to learn
that it was common for such purchased remain
ders of editions to destroy one half thr-e-fourths
of such books, and to charge the full publication
price or nearly that for such as they kept on hand
There was a kind of standing order amongst the
trade that in case anyone known to sell
articles under the publication price. such person
was to be excluded from the trade sales" Against
this rule Lackngton revoltcd. He resolved not
to destroy any books worth saving but to sell them
OIL Mt half or quarter of the publication price For
this he was attacked ain dcmon-ke spirit"
which was far from intmidating him." Many
purchased at the lower who would not have bought
at the higher price, and thus the bulky remanders
were disposed of. The statements which Lacking
ton makes respecting the bulk of his stock are al
most incredible. He would buy 200 copies of one
book, 800 of another 500 of % third, 900 of a
fourth, 1000 of fifth. Sometimes he purchased
5000 copies of one book. Once he had on hand not
less than 10000 copies of Wattss Psalms and
the number of his Hymns He bought
everywhere and enormously He purchased in one
afternoon books to the amount of 5000. Libraries
and secondhand books poured in upon him from
town and country He often expended q thousand
pounds In the purchase of one article, ana FREE
quenty alarmed at his own temerty The
heavy stock of books in sheets disheartened him.
He would prepare to des;st from purchasing n large
number of an article, when suddenly a torrent'o
business made him change his resolution Soon he
had no formidable rivals. He the first buyer
and seller of books OF the kind. aud had the aid OF
novelty. Now of London booksellers do
very much the same business though not many
upon so large scale Lackington put motto on
the doors OF his carriage: Small Profits do Great
Things" and he adds that rejecting upon the
means by which he had been able to support a car
riage added not little to the pleasure of riding in IT."
lie also claims rs one reason of his his
general know ledge of literature, and, indeed, it
must have been considerable For the first thirteen
| years he never had shopman who knew any
| thing of the worth of books. or how to write
| single page of catalogue properly But he had
while his health lasted been a constant reader and
this habit did him good service Sometimes he
admits that he made mistakes in writing out the
classical titles, putting the genilve datiye case
| instead of the nominative accuratlve, but his
| customers kindly considered this a venial fault
which they readily pardoned, aad bought the books
| notwithstanding.
Writing in or about 1900 our author observes
|
during the twenty years previous and in fact has
| quadrupled. This he attributes partly to the in
| creased number of book clubs and circulating
libraries, and partly to improved taste created by
the use of better books for reading exercises in the
schools. He observes naivey that he is also in
I formed that literature making a still moro rapd
progress in Germany, and that there at this time
seven thousand living authors in that country"
| century having gone by, it is natural to inquire
| W hat has become of their productions or whether
| even the "Temple of the MUSES." would have held
| them all, if Mr. Lackington had taken it into his
| head to import them7
| Lackington retired from business in 1898 with a
large fortune. Having nothing else to do he trav-
ecd for a time about England and Scotland but
finally settled down at Budlegh Suterton in
| DevonshiIe Singularly enough. the moment he
was at leisure, he again joined the Methodist So
| ccty, and became n great bcnefactor of the con-
| nection, for which he built and endowed three
chapes. For another amusement he used to drive
in his chariot to the shoemakers' shops attended by
his servants, and ask them if they wanted to hire
| iourneyman. Sometimes they recognized him as an
old workman, and The says &" it would not be easy
to conceive with what surprise and astonishment
| they gazed on me-"
| Lackington supplemented his autobiography by
publishing in 1903 his " Confessions" The truth is
having in his retirement became again Meth )dist
his mind was ill at ease respecting the free way in
which in his Life he had written of his early CO.
religionsts. He admits his sense and adherence
of the pernicious tendency Of these Memoirs in
| which through the side of Methodism he oven
wounds the Church of England. and attacks tho
humble confession of his past infdelity. of his
Saba fl-bP IF mil,