The age-herald., 1901-12-29
Reasons for Buying Books,

Denver replied:s q am rarely if ever in
 fuenced in my selections of new publi- cations by display advertisements. Some
 times an article in some of the reviews,
 particularly if it's author is well known. influences me, and quite frequently l
 have made purchases because of adver-
 tisements In reviews, magazines, etc.
 A resident of Fort Smelling, Mirn., said
 that he had been largely influenced In his selection Of books by the literary reviews
 published in daily newspapers and pc
 r,odicas of the East and the West. Front Savannah, Ga, came a letter
 whose writer said that he derived his in-
 formation almost entirely from cata- logues.
 Captain of the Third Infantry, U. s.
 A, writing from F ort Smelling, said in
 brisk military style: q do my own
 thinking and judge of books by my im-
 pressions regarding the author. I consult
 the book review column of some papers.
 I also receive book catalogues"
 The general agent at Denver of one of the great New York life insurance com
 panies wrote: Such books as I have
 been able to purchase from time to time
 are books that l have long since decided
 10 buy just as soon as my finances en-
 sbled me to .do so. I generally make up
 my mind years beforehand what I want, ,, cpd get 1t when the time comes without fegard to book agents or advertisements
 or any such medium"
 "I rely entirely on the advice given me
 by the manager iE our book depart
 inent," said the owner Of a store in Min neapolis.
 My. main reliance" said a resident of
 Cambria, Wyo., 'is in periodicals pub lished expressly for the reading or book
 hunting public. My preference is to se- lect personally from stock. I have often
 made selections from publishers lists
 and catalogues with satisfactory results"
 A lawyer in Pittsburg wrote that so far
 as he purchased and read current liter
 ature, his choice of the books was in fluenced chiefly by intelligent reviews. 'The announcement of a new work by a
 writer of known merit Is often sufficient
 to induce Q purchase" he concluded. | A Captain of Engineers of the army at | St. Paul wrote: My book purchases are
 almost exclusively in the line of techni-
 cal works and engineering and kindred | subjects. Most of my purchases are made after looking carefully over the indexes
 and sample pages usually sent out by | the publishers to those who have shown | that they read over such printed mat ter Occasionally I see a book notice in one of the technical papers which leads ! dealer, but order direct from the publish ers.''
 Minneapolis grain merchant declared l himself largely in the hands of his
 friends. 'I am usually guided in the
 selection of books by what I hear in conversation with my friends" he said: If I have confidence In the re- viewer, newspaper and magazine reviews | have weight with me-
 He said that he did not. take much stock in the lists of books ordinarily sent out by publishers and booksellers. ad- ding "In my judgment the best and | most effective way of getting a good | book before the public is through the medium of frst-class critical reviews. by
 reviewers who have a fine sense of lit- ! erary and general merit and who never | lose the confidence of their readers" | Another Minneapolis man in the same | line of business replied that he was
 guided by the general knowledge he had acquired of literature He read reviews
 was little influenced by the local book | sellers
 | "I am governed in the selection of books either by the local press adverr | tisements or our booksellers" wrote a | St. Paul man. q make up my annual or l semi annual lists for purchase almost l entirely from reviews and magazine ad- | vertisements. adding standard authori- tiles for any special work we may be | doing I think in this day of study clubs and classes there is growing a larger in- l tAr4st in hnai-a df rAsArAnaA ana -.-n-