The morning call., 1891-06-19
BOOKS AND BOOK-sELLERs.

The failure Of the J. Dswing Comp ny,
booksellers and publishers, attracts atten-
ton because il is the eleventh bOok-Selling
house which has gone out of business in this
city within eighteen months. This singular
run of disaster is ascribed to the diversion
OF trade FROM San Francisco to Eastern
cities. When Bancroft & Co. we're practi-
cally the only booksellers in the city the
other towns on the Coast drew most Of their
supplies from their warehouse; Portland,
Seattle Sacramento. Stockton, Los Angeles
and all the small towns sent to San Fran
cisco for books. Now these cities import
their supplies Of literature direct from Chi
cago, St. Louis and New York. Hence a
falling off in sales at this point. This is the
reason given in the trade for the misfoTtunes
which have occurred.
A more obvious cause for these misfor-
tunes may perhaps be found in the increase
OF bookstores in this city during the past
two OF three years. When the Bancroft fire
took place quite a number of enterprising
people fancied that a vacuum had been
created which it would be a good idea to fill.
Bookstores were opened on every thorough
fare and il looked as if literary epidemic
lad broken out Unfortunately the supply
OF readers did not keep pace with the sup
ply Of books and many of the new stores
did not make money enough to much more
than pay expenses. Hence, one after an
other, a number Of the new providers Of
reading matter retired from business
a city of 100000 inhabitants does not re-
qure many bookstores. There are not over
half dozen retail book sellers who make
money in New York, and about as many in
Boston. There are Two or three in Chicago.
In our city directory the names and ad-
dresses of seYenty-four are given. If this
was modern Athens and the entire pOpu-
lation spent its spare time in reading books,
such a wealth of book-sellng might per-
haDs be partially explained. But San Fran
ciscans read the papers. Some Of them read
the magazines. A few of them read books,
chiefly novels. and those they get at the cir
culating libraries. The class which buys
books at the stores and accumulates a home
library is narrow.
Nor is the custom peculiar to this city or
this Coast. Readers Of books are falling off
everywhere. People have not time to read
books. There are so many newspapers and
periodicals which well-informed person
must read that the spare hours which our
ancestors devoted to the perusaI of books
are consumed by the present generation
without opening many volumes. And again,
the shelves of the booksellers are not
tempting. 1t is a positive waste of money
10 buy the catchpenny novels of the day.
though they are now published in cheap
form. Nobody ever thinks Of reading them
twice. Once read, the only use that can be
made Of them is to send them TO the hos
pitfalls or prisons. Few people can afford to
spend money for a pleasure so very brief
As to the other class Of books, works of
standard literature, they are produced in
such expensive style that they are out of the
reach Of the ordinary purse. Within few
months two great books have appeared
Stanley's book and Nicolay & Hays Life
Of Lincoln" The one costs in this city SO,
the other $40. Nine readers out of ten will
wait their chance Of getting such books
from the Libraries rather than pay out SO
much money.
The book trade appears to be reducing
itself to an absurdity. 1T is said that in this
country alone a new novel is published
every day in the year. The United States
Printing Office issues 1000 volumes every
year Where are readers to be found for
such mass Of literature? Meanwhile the
leading writer's of the day rely upon period