New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1890-04-06
THE PUBLISHERS.
THEIR RELATIONS WITH THE BOOKSELLERS
THE PUBLIC, AND THE AUTHOR.

London, March 10.
The dispute about discount in the bookselling
and book-publishng trade of Great Britain Is
not one by which the public can expect 10 prohC'
1t all springs from what is called undcrselllns'
and it is underscng, not tie suppression OF IT,
which is to the advantage OF the pubic. bu''
say .hc retail men. it is carried to such point
tbo, ;lr selling of books by retail is no longer
ma, business The political economist would
reniv. Then 90 into some other bust less that
does pay; or rather The capital now en-
ploycd unremunerativcly in retail bookselng Will
migrate into some other business that Is remuher-
alive Unless, perchance, IL should mcan'iHe
disappear and with it the unhappy owner. lhit
is a detail. of which political economy takes no
account but which is Of some account to those
who are not above sentiment, ana not superior
TO the misfortunes of their fellow-men
Whether retail boollselling does IN fact pay or
does not. is matter that has OF late been pup
licy discussed, and the evidence IS as conflicting
as evidence usually is. The question may he
answered either way. Roughly speaking, IL pays
in London and does not pay in the smaller pro-
vincial towns. Perhaps there are not many who
sell books. new books, at retail, and sell nothing
else The business goes hand in hand with the
selling of secondhand books; often lucrative
what are called fancy articles. 1t pays IN any
ease in the hands of those who swim with the
stream. who conform to circumstances, VINO OBEY
tho conditions of the time in which they live.
The od-fashioned people 90 TO the wall. IL
man norsists in asking 81 for book which peo-
pe Gan buy next door for Is cents, he VIII
nrohohlv comnlain that his business does not pay
r. discovering this he then sells it for - CENTS
l.. Il tl,a for IL originally. MS
comnloint will rot be less loud Tie cheap book
selIer who prospers is man who dm.nlshes his
nrice 70 the public, but preserves his margin OF
profit all the same lie makes special arrange
mcnts with the publisher and buys on more
favorable terms than ne formerly did, or than his
rciohbor row does The publisher, for his part,
quietly increases the published price of his book,
and gets larger share rather than less Share
of the plumber
Competition is, however, so keen That ire dis
count to the public has increased and IS Sill IN
creasing | do not add that 1t ought TO be
diminished. The present rule IN London Is three
fence in the shilling for cash; exactly - per
cent of tie publishers price. book Issued al
the nominal price OF 4 shilling may ne ooueho
anywhere for nine pence But as the re''l oeaei
buys the same book from the wholesale dealer at
pl-uf pence, ana D'lS tullb'H ''Hi'' IVA ''''''
and discount besides of per cent OFF tie amount
of his invoice. the business does not seem bad
one He pays 81 pence and a fraction for thir-
teen copies and sells them for IL pence; proht
of 20 pence on the 81 pence of capital or nearly
50 per cent \ tradcsman who cannot 1--we on n
profit Of 80 Per cent ought perhaps to Try some
thing cslc than trade. Bat. lie says, the hhch- F
draper steps IN between me and the Pablo. lie
order attract
the public to his shop and induce them to buy
his other wares. the profit on which is large
enough 10 rccoup him for his small loss on the
books 40 doubt the linendraper is capable OF
this wicked act 1t l.: All old trick and there Is
no act Of Parliament against it, nor any act or
otlcr thing to prevent the bookseller from r.
iortinc uDon his rival and selling pocket-hand-
kcrchicf, under cost in order to entice the people
to buy books at price higher than the market
price Then there are the Stores, about whose
Nickcdncs, we used 10 hear gcat deal more Una -
we do now-thc Cooperative stores lhey' 'oo'
sell books and sometimes sell them at wha' Is
called trade price. in other words, sell them lot
the sum they pay iog them
II is Mr. Frederick Macmillan who. among
Others. makes himself responsible for the safe
mcnt that it is rapidly becoming impossible for
books Ter. pure anu Na'Ip', '''iit- ~
literature. to make a living profit from his bnsi-
ness No donbt Mr. Macmillan is right if the
publishers view II what constitutes living
nrodt~ i, TO prevail Mr. Macmillan is a partner
in a very eminent publishing house, and any
thing he SAYS on the publishing or selling of
book, deserves attention. He has written long
latter ahont bookselling to n trade organ. and eN-
presses some sympathy with the booksellers IN
tlcir nrcscnt difficulties. Before proceed with
,l,f mich, / suggest 10 Mr. Macmillan that some
ot lis >vmpaihics mi.ht De bestowed on another
ncrson concerned in the book business, the an
,bnrp If the figures | have given above are cor
rcct the seller Of books, even III his present
wrcichcd estate. makes profit of 80 per cent.
VIII Mr. Macmillan he kind as TO tell rs III
what proportion the profits on successful book
orc 4 distributed between author and publisher
Doe, the author make living profit ON what
Is commonly the only capital he possesses HIS
brains? Let lis take "A recent case. We VIII
snpposc that an eminent firm publishes "A DOCK "l
"reminiscences in two handsome volumes at - %,
and that. Notwithstanding the high price. the
nuhlic buys four editions Of H. That, surely. Is
, successful book and one that ought 10 pay
everybody concerned living profit. and perhaps
.ouc,hinr more Does Mr. Macmillan think he
could find out what share of the proceeds the
outLor received and how much the publisher Kept
for himself and, if he could will he lct us Know
A private transaction? Oh, no, Mr.. Macmil-
Ian that is one of several mistakes into which
vou publishcrs occasionally fall. IL is matter
Of very considerable public interest II concerns
the community deeply that literature shonld he
encouraged. and should be profitable 10 the pro
Queer of il. The patron on whom the author
once in some measure depended has disappeared
The publisher has taken his place. lie is, or
ourht 70 be- the Maecenas OF the nineteenth cen
tuIy But if Johnson were living now, do you
think lie would soften the terrible lines which he
wrote under the sting of Lord Chesterfield 5
neglect?
There mark what ills the scholars life assail,-
Toll. envy. want, the patron and the Jail.
To substitute publisher for patron would spoil
the metre. Would 1t much affect the sense
The publisher is a man of business, the author Is
net. or seldom is. Do you thiulS publishers have