Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1904-02-27
The Books That Are Read.

the 100000 mark. There are IS book:
works of fiction. That one exception
wild Animals / Have Known" by
Ernest Thompson-Seton is claimed b!
John Burroughs and other naturalist:
Of the old school to be fiction as much
as the remaining q, but the claims OF
it's author should have some weight
and Thompson-Seton AYERS it is moi
fiction. Miss Monroe has classified he,
list into three departments. giIin the
aggregate issuance of each volume, as
follows:
BOOKS OF EVERYDAY LIFE.
"Dayid Harum." by Westcott ;......7722.,f t
Mr.. Wigs of the Cabbage
Patch: by Alice Hogan Rice. ....3i5 ,gs
The virginian;." By Owen W'ster 200"
Rice NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.. lSS.H
The Birds Christmas Carol by ~.
The story of Patsy by Mr..
W lSgln ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. .lV'VV'
The Leorard's Spots" by Thomas -,
RELIGIOUS. 1880.
BLACK Rock" by Ralph Connor q" ""
The Choir Invisible" by James 49,.
The SKY Pilot" by Ralph Connor POO 600
The Man from Glensarry,' by ,oo nan
The i.' Reign '' Of Law" by James 49,
Lame ->''' ROMANTIC.
Richard Calvel," by Winston ,oo nv,
..rh" crisis; by Winston 49,.
tir renli by 6. b. MrCutcheon ala 900
The Eternal City" by Hall Caine l''.1o'
dorothy Vernon" by Charles nm
The ManXman." ny Hall Caine liz ol
When KnighthOod Was in Flow
err" by Charles Major an" 02
II" Have and to Hold by MISS ,oo
Audrey" by Miss Johnston .:...: .l6l."~
The Helmet of Navarro by
Bertha Runkle 100 ""
The Jungle Book" by Rudyard ~,
Ellen Holden, by Irving Bach
eller .......-..........-.-... 80. .3V',""
Wild Animals | Have Known" by
+. Thompson Seton .....-......... ln "f'
The Cavalier" by George w.
Cable NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.. .lrlpWI
Gordon Keith" by Thomas Nelson oo
High Wynnc," by Weir Mitchell 500,
The list is certainly worthy of study
and gives rise to a number of interest
inc thoughts. How many of the Is
have you read, for instance: The
wonderful growth of the public library
does not seem to have affected the
book-selling business very materially,
Judging from this report Three
auarters Of n million volumes of David
Harum' make quite a respectable
showing for a book which has as little
claim to worth as has the Westcott
the 2S scheduled here. and authorship
will have passed from the plane where
popular faucy has long placed it and be
considered even more lucrative than
pork packing or railroad promoting.
it is not too generous an estimate To
believe that five persons have read
each volume sold. With this ratio over
$500. 900 people have learned how
Harum worsted the deacon in the horse
trade. and 1,500,000 have hobnobbctl
with Mrs. Wigs and Lovey Mary and
wandered iii the cabbage patch.
II is also remarkable to notice that
of the Is books all but six We're written
hy American authors; and of these six
exceptions three came from one man
the Canadian clergyman who is known
as Ralph Common" Rudyard KiplinG
and Hall Caine mold the hOnors for
continental Europe, and Caine comcs;
in with twice the popularity Of Kip
li"e, having two volumes to KiplinS' S
one. 1t is also interesting to note that
of the IS volumes all but seven are the
We, ks of men. Mary Alice Hogan Rice
heads the feminine list. but is not up to
the halfway house on Westcotts
journeyinS. 1t is good sign that the
every day life books, as Miss Mon
roe calls them far surpass the rO-
mantle. 1t is an indication of healthy
sentiment, of living in the present
tIistii a. III eic past VI
.'Odzooks' and "'Sdeath."
Miss Monroe's list will give rise to
much comment and reflection; but not
much time may safely be spent on it
with the book output as immense as it
is to-day; fer while one is making in-
teresting comparisons some one of the
young 1904 volumes may have passed
David Harum' in the mad race for the
million mark. According to the Pub
fishers Weekly there We're 1866 new
books published in the United
States in 1903. as against 1888 issued
i'm 1902 OF the new books SIC ranked
as fiction. of the reprints 644. In 100:
the figures were SOS and $50.
Congress could pass no act that
would be more generally appreciated
hN he American DeOcle than the Pc Il