The morning call., 1894-03-14
PROSPERITY OF THE BOOK TRADE

In a recent article in The CALL 1t was
mentioned that literature, being luxury,
was suffering more acutely from the haId
times than products which were necessar-
les of life. 1t seems we were mistaken.
Notwitbst standing the failures which have
occurred in the book trade, leading East
ern publishers state that their business is
not feeling the hard times. Mr.. John
Harper OF Harper & Brothers, New FORK,
tells the New York Tribune that their
"orders have been as large as usual.
though their collections have been slow"
Mr.. Charles Scribner says that 1.-THE de-
mand for new books seems to be as great
as ever, though The number OF failures
among the retail dealers has been unusu-
ally great" MI. Daniel Appleton Of ID.
Appleton & Co. says that ''for the first
two months of 1894 our business has been
as good as 10 any year for the correspond
ing period" Messrs. Estes & LauTiat Of
Boston write 10 the Herald that pub
Usher who caters 10 the better class OF
book buyers-that is, TO those who want
an edition of their favori,e author in a
form worthy of its merits and are willing
to pay for it-has better chance of success
in the market to-day than he ever had be-
fore" This firm makes a statement
which will surprise the book world. name
ly. that it doubts If there is any other
publishing house in the country which has
a much capital invested at the present
time in the publication of editions de luxe
as our has,"
All this is gratifying news. There is no
better test of civilization than the circula-
tion of books, and though at superficial
glance food for the mind seems less neces-
sary Than food for the BODY, it is quite
possible that the American people may
have reached that high Stage OF develop
ment in which people are willing to stint
their expenditure for purely animal wants
10 feed their appetite for reading. Tie
biographies of great men abound in stor-
les of young men OF promise who denied
themselves everything in order to purchase
a copy of their favorite authors. If we
are all going tn rise to that high plane, it
will be well for the country.
At the same time it Is not to be denied
that the luxurious class in this country
spend more money than their foreiathers
did on mere decoration and personal ex-
travagance, and less ON letters. We hear
of drawing rooms which costs thou
sands of dollars to furnish; of houses
like Cornelius Vanderbilt's, whose in
terror decorations cost a million: of
dadoes and curtains and Persian rugs and
frescoed ceilings and gorgeous tapestries
ana marvels of furniture OF ivory and
gold, but we do not hear of corresponding
OUTLAWS for libraries. When Cornelius
Nanderbilt's new palace was lately thrown
open, the visitors were struck dumb at the
display OF magDficenee, but In the library,
which is noble room, there are no books.
We have some pretty fine houses in this
city, houses whose adornments have come
from New York and Paris, but which of
our millionaires has library in which a
scholar can take delight and find instruc.
ton? And yet the triumphs OF the uphol-
sterer's skill Will fade and go out of
fashion. The ormolu tables will lose their
varnish and their legs. but books live for
ever and are source OF joy to generation
after generation.
The books which publishers are now
producing fill us with pity for past genera
tons. Here and there among the books OF
the past is one which was written for all
time. and is as welcome to-day as IL was
when it first appeared. But the great
mass Of the old books are so dull. so full
of misconceptions, ignorance and false
facts that we cannot but wonder how the
people who read them ever did any good
in the world. If 1t had not been for poor
old laundering Goldsmith there yould
have been no histories that any younp
person could have read except on com.
pulson. There was not till our day a
book Of science which was not calculated
to aggravate the reader. There was moi
book Of travels or hardly a biography that
was not cure insomnia. Now we
have in all branches of knowledge books
written by the clearest and brightest
minds OF the day, in a style lucid as a
mountain brook. illustrated with tasteful
pictures. and truthful and accurate. There
never was time when books were better
worth buying. or cheaper. And yet our
leading citizens spend 500 on gauds and
champagne and grudge half-eagle for
books.
THE FARCE ENDS.