New-York tribune., 1885-09-14
THE LONDON 1KNoCK-oUT.'
WHAT IT is. HOW 1T Is WORKED. AND THE
pEsJrITa

+ ,-~o,, rur REGULAR CORRESPONDENT OF THE riib.SS
IShoh Inn ''''' LONDON, Aug. 20.
ons or two newspapers have during the past sea-
am ,o;sea mild and brief protests against that iorn
of robbery known among booksellers as V,o A"oo
ont. The Publishers Circular, when mas pee" 80
spicuous in defence of some OF the "orss
- t,o ,ublishinc trade now takes up the cudgeis
;.s sinners in the bookselling and book
t,rsn,, business. Let us see what 1t is which inc
,,,,hlisbers organ champions. Knockout Is d
..,;,aoy bet veen certain secondhand DooKset-
,.rs IN obtain possession OF DOCKS oneiou
nv auction without paying their fair value. lhey
ro nv the name of the Black Band and deserve ~.
Tbev agree among themselves not 10 Diu as"
each other and Que of the gang is deputeu " ~
o. s,eb hooks Is they cOvet. Competition peins
,whoI,v IN n great part got rid OF, the books are
knocked down at nominal price, etten 'a1n'
sometimes hundredth part OF their reaValue' 80 no
spol thus obtained is disposed OF In TINS way ino
,a.,obar. Of the Knockout meet after the auc'ion
and hold meeting of their own E"oh oi ~ ~,
hand buys what he Wishes anu aS '"I0
- oenuine competition, the books now
rotoh their true price or what they are worm 10
. hoolsaIler 10 sell again. From the proceeds OF
tb;s second auction are deducted the sums paiu "U
tne first auction. and the net proceeds are 'uon
divided among the parties to this honest anu NOiO'
able transaction. -. A
One of the results of this process is obvious A
great norton of the money value OF library SUI
In such circumstances goes, not to the o"noi' Ou'
TO the members of the knockout. Inc owner -
simply plundered. The morals OF the 'rauSao.'on
.ra on mar with the morals of professional tbief
~ nn,s his hand in vour pocket and takes your
purse. I once discussed the legal bearings VI
the case with lawyer, who though.
n might be difficult to conVict
IN, guiltv parties to a Knockout of legal onsncc'
Possibly itmight. but IL there be no law 10 PUNISH
this CRIME one ought to be passed. Inc SUFFERERS
90 IN manv cases widows and children who see
their property appropriated and are wltnou'
remedy.
II NAV be said that the public are not parties 10
Knockout and that there must be enough su'siue''
not connected with the book trade TO prevent ~ I.o-
ouent swndling Of this sort on great sca'e. in0
answer is that the competition of the puOhc pro-
tects the owner and makes the auction genuine ono
IN some cases. but by means IN ALL The puonc mas
mucb less TO do with the matter than most people
imagine and for several reasons. Private buyers
often entrust their cOmm'sson TO oooNSsueI'
They are not present in person. 1t is part Oh INC
law of a Knockout that bookseller shall DO az
liberty to execute his commission. failure 10 uo
so zvould be followed by exposure and the loss OF
business The book bought by one OF the Dand IoI
a customer Is likely to fetch pretty nearly the sum
he has authorized to be bid. The amount OF the
booksellers commission depends on the amount Tor
which the book sells.
IT, however, the private buyer does not entrust
his commission to bookseller but goes to the SAFE
and bids for himself, the Knockout band instantly
combine against him and run up the price OF the
hook be wants to point far beyond its value. This
is so well known that most collectors WHO buy
much at auctions have abandoned the attempt 10
hid for themselves The object of the Knockout
people Is to get a clear field, and they have to
considerable extent succeeded. If they are TO be
allowed full swing, they viii succeed to still
greater extent
The system has many ramihcations. too many TO
be described, but may mention one rather inter-
estlng variety of which heard not long ago.
certain book appeared on certain sale catalogue,
which it was thought certain collector was likely
to want. This collector deals with bookseller
who will have nothing to do with knock-outs To
ask him to Join one was TO waste time, but sundry
knavish brethren went to HIM with proposals that
for sums specified they would refrain from bidding
for this book. The intended beneficiary was so
ungrateful as to call this attempt at blackmail-
ing One of the cases mentioned In point was
the sale of first folio Shakespeare, worth perhaps
$4,000 for 500. And was told to-day that copy
of Nichols History of Leicestershire had lately
been acquired by some Knock-Outers for $25. The
book Is worth $500 OF if on large paper $1,000, or
more.
Who are the parties to these swindles? That is
question which must be left to answer itself 1t
is obvious that the Knockout system would be In
effective unless some Of the leading secondhand
booksellers took part in II. If tney all did, there
would be little protection for the owner who wants
to sell his books by auction Rumor busles herself
at times with the matter and names certain noori-
ous offenders. but cannot follow her example. If
you asked Messrs Sotheby or Messrs. Puttish 81
Simpson, the two chief firms of book auctioneers in
London they could, if they thought ft give you
some very interesting information. Needless 10
say that they are opposed utterly to this sort of
fraud and do what they can, what
they dare, to discourage and repress it.
Their duty and their interests are to get
the highest price they can for the books they sell
:, They are agents for the owner and have obiga-
ton to him. They paid by commission IA very
high one, 12l2 per cent? on the amount Of their
sales, and the Knockout in successful operation
duces the profit of the auctIoneer just as it robs
the owner They meet the attempt of the second
hand booksellers at spohation by advising the
owner to put a reserve on his property. That is a
protection up TO a certain point but mp to a GER
tain point only. The owner does not, a rule un-
derstand why he is to name reserve price, nor
what tricks aud machiDatisns no is to guard
against. In most cases the auctioneer thinks he
has done his duty when he has given the
advice without saying why he gives il. Nor would
it be easy for Messrs Sotheby or Puttish to ex-
plain TO their clients that their saerooms from
time to time the scene of an organized fraud,
against which they arc themselves powerless.
In the provinces the Knockout is am told, more
frequent aud impudent than In London.
Spite of all combinations among unscrupnlous
dealers. the mere bigness Of London is a safeguard.
A corrupt conspiracy which depends for complete
success the abstention of the public
becomes more difficult to manage as the