Evening star., 1901-12-28
BETTER BooKs Purchased.
The Demand at the Palnis Royal for
Copyright Publications.


Copyright Publications.
"Traveling statesmen have said now and
then that Washington book buyers read
cheap books, said Mr.. A. Sidney Heller of
the Palais Royal last Thursday. "They
can never say SO again. Our Christmas
trade developed as large a percentage of
buyers for copyright books as can be found
in any city in the country. We have never
sold so many volumes which cost from 81
to $3.50, and the literary judgment of our
buyers has never been SO good in all my
experience.
Some time ago there may have been
some basis for the broad criticism of the
publishers agents-because many Wash
ingtonians bought small books, not over
well printed, which cost at retail from 10
cents to % cents a volume. Still, the city
always consumed its share of better books.
But this year the sale of fine books COW
cred by copyrights, the latest and most
widely discussed books in the market, was
so large as to excite general comment
among book dealers generally. We had
prepared for just such trade and had fol-
lowed a Palais Royal custom of many
years by buying all books in large quanti-
ties. They are all gone now, and we have
had to repleniSh our stock for the regular
January trade.
500 Sets of Shakespeare.
Possibly twenty titles can be included in
well. The same story is told all over
the country. But our most gratifying trade
was in sets of books written by standard
authors of the best class. For example, VIE
disposed of 800 sets of Shakespeare. You
have no idea how many people wanted the
works of Macaulay, Thackeray, George
Eliot and such writers. The publishers
have been unconsciously making ready for
this demand for years by improving the
quality of sets offered at moderate prices
in the face of a rather duh trade. We have
now just about enough sets to fill our
shelves, if helped out with some empty
boxes.
Gift books don't go very well. The peo-
pie who want that kind of reading either
buy it for themselves exactly when they
want it or receive the books as gifts soon
after they are issued. Then, trade in books
like that in everything else goes by waves
This year it is one class Of publications.
last year it was another, and so on. There
was little demand this season for dainty
books with gilt edges and marginal illus
trations.
In books for children it is the same old
story. We don't handle the very cheap
books for young readers. Yet our trade in
juveniles of one class or another reached
a total of 25,00O books. The standard of
such books has decidedly improved lately,
sign that the publishers have finally
realized what an important feature of their
business juvenile literature has always
been.
The Trade in Library Publications.
1.-The stock we have Ieft consists almost
entirely of what we term regular library
books We have several sthousand such
volumes, and wish we;had twice as many,
for they constitute the Foundation of the
book trade, and a store cansnever have too
many Of them. If the Christmas sale had
cleaned out that stock, too. }we might have
been seriously embarrassed. They are pub
lished as different numbers in a compre-
hensive series, so that if customer buys
the entire library he has a pretty good as
sortment Of books. In selling them sep
arately we run a risk, Of course, of upset
ting the plans of those who want the whole
set, but 1 don't think the holiday trade has
broken into our libraries seriously
christmas this year, will be remembered
at the Palais Royal chiefly for the un-
equaled sale Of very good books, and the
discrimination manifested by the general
body Of our customers. We think that is a
wonderfully encouraging sign. 1t seems to
indicate that people are reading book notices
and book reviews, and that they read the
books on which the reviewer has COM
mented favorably. But the sale of sets of
Shakespeare and the smaller trade in sets
of other authors indicates that the old lit
erary lights are far from being eclipsed."