New-York tribune., 1900-11-25
BOOK PRICES IN FRANCE.
AGITATION FOR CHEAPER BOOKS TO
COMPETE WITH NEWSPAPERS.
Paris. November ID

Paris, November IA.
| The French book trade is undergoing crisis
The great publishing houses of Firmn- Didot,
Fasquelle, Hachette. Name, Camann-Levy
Paul OlIendorff and others complain of the situ-
ation and say that it is quite probable that
with the new year the favorite form OF book
| which twelvemonth ago was raised from A.
cents a volume to 60 cents volume g francs
| - centimes to 8 francs), will be raised TO 6J
cents a volume g francs % centimes) and that
a corresponding rise is expected in the prices of
all books. Several reasons are given for this.
In the first place, the rise in the price of coal
and the enhanced value of paper making rags
have caused the price of white paper go up
ID per cent in the last three months. The de-
velopment of the newspaper, with feuiletOns.
| single column stories and "tartines.' articles
of literary value written by the foremost men
Of the day, has eliminated IN keen competi-
ton with the lighter kinds of books, and is
blighting the sale of the novel Moreover the
plethora of hastily written thought lacking
books. with catchy. delusive titles and covers
has caused a reaction III the popular taste-a
sort of indigestion
NJ. HANOTAUXs VIEWS
NJ. Gabriel Hanotaux, of the French Academy
and former Minister of Foreign Affairs, who
has been investigating the subject, comes to the
conclusion that the publishers will make a mis-
take If they carry out their intention of again
| putting up their prices. NJ. Hanotaux says the
publishers must make up their minds to COM
pete with the newspapers. They must produce
good and cheap books to satisfy the multitude
| The public wants cheap books Just as it wanted
cheap dinners, cheap clothes and cheap munc-
| ipal transportation. The successful publisher
will be the one who finds the means of supply
| ing this demand The Duval restaurants the
| great drygoods establishments such as the
| Bon Marche' the "Magasins du Louvre
| and the Paris metropolitan Railway have solved
| the problem in other departments but so far
| little has been accomplished toward providing
| the public with cheap books. NJ. Hanotaux
thinks that in the future there will be two kinds
! OF books-the costly, luxurious volume exQus-
tely bound. beautifully illustrated. and printed
| on handmade paper in small private editions
| for the collector, and the cheap book for the
masses which must not cost more than few
| cents. NJ. Hanotaux points out that a daily
newspaper sold at one. two three cents con-
| tains as much matter octave volume, is
| the result of hard labor. and is produced by
| elaborate machinery at ain enormous expendi-
| ture, and is delivered each morning by messen-
ger or by post to its subscribers. while the book
publisher. on the other hand, works at leisure
unhampered by the exigencies of the telegraph
| the cable, the city reporter the correspond
! ent, or the minute hand Of the clock Accord
| ing to NJ. Hanotaux. the book of the future will
bound, and sold for three cents volume.
| IMPRACTICABLE PUBLISHERS SAY
| The leading Paris publishers do not hesitate
to say that they regard NJ. Hanotaux's idea as
! absolutely mpracticable They reply that %
centime Give cent? books already in the
market last year. 1t a losing business, the
price was put up and the % centime books now
cost 90 centimes, or 10 cents The publishers
say that the reason for this increase is owing
to the rise IN the price Of white paper especially
of low grade paper They say that the cost Of
books now depends exclusively upon the price
OF white paper.
According to information supplied by NJ.
Manoury. president of the Syndcal Chamber of
the Paris Paper Manufacturers, there seems TO
be chance of any diminution in prices On
the contrary the prospects are that the present
rise will continue. Besides the rise in the price
of coal and the increased cost of rags already
referred to, there has also been increase in
the price OF wood pulp and of the chemicals re-
quired for manufacture. This increase In the .
cost Of the products for paper making was
accompanied by u greater demand for paper,
owing to the increased circulation OF the Paris
daily newspapers and the enormous quantity Of
pamphlets, notices. circulars catalogues, etc,
required for the Exposition. NJ Manoury says
that the primary cause Of dear paper is the rise
in coal. On an average two kiogrammes of coal
required to produce kilogramme of white
paper and the advance In the price OF coal has
been such that paper which six months ago
could be made at a of one franc a kilo-
gramme cannot be manufactured now for less
than two francs kogramme. In addition to
this, the stock has been exhausted at several
of the largest firms. that In order to fulfil
their contracts paper had to be purchased in
Norway Sweden and Germany. Then again
the price of pulp has doubled. 1t cost 10 francs
| In 1899, and the price is 90 francs This is
| important, because from so to S5 per cent of
| ordinary white French made paper is made from
| pulp.
Notwithstanding what the publishers say. NJ
Hnnotaux still adheres to his opinion that the
only solution of the problem is TO produce cheap
books. He considers that the publishers form q
close and conservative corporation and are fol-
lowing too closely the traditions of their predc-
| cessors in the eighteenth century who produced
| sVch exquisitely made volumes that they ceased
| to be mere books and became objects Of purely
| artistic value like the "Trois Tours de Madame
de Pompadour, the "Contes de la Fontaine
| Les BaiserS de Dorat," the "Deromes' and the
! ''Pade Loups, which now at book sales brIns
! ZO,OO0 francs volume. This luxury OF the
! bibophile was soon followed by the French
| Revolution. Those who read books wanted TO
get quickly at the gist of things. The delicate
lace and exquisite bindings were cast aside
During the Revolution the publisher Bradel met
the popular demand. and made prncey fort
une by introducing neat, handy and cheap vol
unes on rough paper and in cardboard covers
The conservative old routine publishers I,ho1n
! Bradel replaced predicted that the Idea was
| lmpract tiCable" Perh9Ds some twAntIetb