The record-union., 1899-10-08


According to an epigrammatic book
seller, who is also a publisher Of ex-
perience, there are two kinds Of crit
icism which contribute to the sale OF
books, says J. S. Tunison in the Sep
tember Atlantic" One of these IS
the statement of the publisher, ac-
cepted of course, as the opinion also
of his professional readers, upon the
merits of a given book. That state
ment is based upon wide practical ex-
perience and is restricted to just the
points which should make the book
attractive to the class of readers to
which the appeal in its behalf must be
made Obviously the reputation Of
publisher for solidity of Judgment and
candor must affect the question here,
but this has to be read between the
lines A statement of the kind all
luded to is usually very brief-as brief
as the ordinary paragraph bestowed
by the newspaper critic on books which
he views with indifference or finds him.
self incapable of handling; but it is
nevertheless the product of mature
consideration. Secondary to this print
ed notice from the publishers hands
elers for publishing houses. These |
men can be divided into two classes
the one consisting of those whose pre-
dictions as TO the selling qualities of a
new book can be trusted, the other of
those who lack this accuracy. The diff |
ference between the two is not nee
essarily nor usually a matter of per-
sonaIity. 1t is really a line of dis
elimination among publishers them /
selves. Not long ago, in the case Of a
popular but rather costly biography Of
a man Of great distinction, the trav
eler who had the book in hand, and
knew the region in which he worked,
gave his local patrons an estimate of
the number of copies they would re-
quire. It was a sort of trial of skill /
and it turned out that he hit the de-
mand more closely than did the men
who thought they knew their own trade
best. They had to supplement their
first order with a second, losing a lit
tie money by the operation in accord
ance with the fitness of things II
was. perhaps, an easy thing to esti-
mate possibilities with that book. But
similar provision in less favorable cir
cumstanees shows that calculations
were not made on a purely experiment
al basis. The local bookseller knows
well enough when he faces mere ex-
pertinent You need not show me
any books of poetry from X or Y" said
one. Il know that they have not been
read by any one competent to pass
judgment upon them; it will be a mere
chance if they are not all rubbish"
The other kind of profitable criticism
looking always, of course, from the
mercantile point of VIEWS that of
the social dinner and the club.
For many years Charles Darwin,
naturalist lived in the village of Down
in Kent, and now comes the news that
the house which he occupied there has
for some time been utterly neglected
and may be destroyed at an early date.
English scientists express the hope that
steps will at once be taken to pre-
serve a building which is full Of great
memories and in which some Of the
most important scientific works of this
or any other age We're produced"
Darwin lived in Down from 1872
until his death, and his best works
were written there. The house which
was once his is at the corner of two
streets one of which leads to Tun-
bridge and the other to WesIerham. The
rurnor that it may be destroyed does
not sound probable to many, for the
reason that there is no great demand
for land in Down. and even if there
were there are many building plots
around the old house. The suggestion
has been made that the building be
transformed into a Darwin museum or
a museum Of natural history, and va
rious scientific journals are doing their
best to have this suggestion carried
out.
B. F. Robinson, in Cassell's Maya,
zine: AS we reached the double bridge
at Blackfriars my waterman ceased
rowing, and we drifted between the