The sun., 1910-01-09
SELLING BOOKS IN RUSSIA
4 BUSINESS WHICH GIVES HIGH
SOCIAL STANDING.

The bookseller an Authority on Questions
Of Nbuslc, Literature and Art--FIctiOn
OT the Best Seller Type Not in Demand
Emerson. Poe ami Twain Liked.
A Russian bookseller is not an ordinary
merchant In his own country" writes one
OF the guild. Ivan Narodny. in the IRde-
pendent. he practically dominates not
only his customers but many OF the in
tellectual people OF the district.
He is an expert not only in Russian
literature and art but his knowledge of
the literature. art and music Of the world
Is above the average. He speaks at least
two and sometimes three languages and
Ii man OF high education.
-In a Russian book shop music and
various products OF art are sold besides
books. The shop generally contains the
leading works OF the best native and
foreign authors, composers and painters.
Sometimes stationery and objects Of
handicrsft are also sold. even II books
are the chief concern.
at is rare that one could not find in a
provincial book shop something by
Goethe. Shakespeare, Schopenhauer.
Hugo. Ibsen. Poe or Emerson. The
reproductions of Rembrandt, Millet.
Whistler. Boeoklin. Repin, yerestohagin
and others are also commonly kept on
sale. One always finds the best Russian
authors and various editions OF the
classics.
The reason for such respectable social
standing Of Russian book seller is to DO
looked. for In a certain tradition. Most
OF the works of the first Russian writer's
were published in the beginning OF the
nineteenth century by their wealthy ad
mirers. who, having paid good honor
arlum for the authors. did not contem-
plate the making OF any money from sell
ing the books, They as dealers often
sold their books from their own houses.
or they hired young students or literary
men to sell them for the mere cost OF
paper and printing.
The Russian bookseller is usually man
who has been In the university or college
and who halted before he became a pro-
fessional. as he may have at first intended.
Many OF the theological students on
completing their courses dislike t. be-
! come priests. They often become book
sellers.
Il became a bookseller in a small town
OF 5000 inhabitants after I had been n
writer of short stories. literary critic and
essayist. My book shop contained over
| 5000 books or various sorts. about 600
piano pieces and songs. and about 200
reproductions of the work of great Rus
| sian and European painters etchings and
small drawings by local artists.
My annual sales were from 10000 to
| Il, 900 rubles. tvo-thlrds OF which came
| from the books. l also managed all the
song recitals, concerts and other public
entertainments OF the town. which i con-
sidered as honorable perquisitest but for
which i made no charge. This ls custo-
mary in towns OF this size. 1t 10 not so,
however, in the larger cities like ki5n T.
Warsaw, Moscow and st. Petersburg.
-Thouga the greatest number Of my
customers were peasants, petty ON cials
and teachers. yet disposed Of books OF
high literary merit only. l sold most
and high class novels. but doubt II dis:
posed OF as many as twenty sensational
love stories or other boulevard fiction In
the course Of a year. None OF my Gus
toners bought b sensational book merely
as such or because OF its decorative sx-
ternal appearance.
THE best liked Russian books during
the time l was in trade were the short
stories by Tchekhoff, the novels by Dos
toyevsky and Korolenko. the essays by
Tolstoy, the stories by Turgenien and
Shtchedrin, the poems BY Lermontom and
PIlshLin, the dramas by GoRol. Tchekhon
and some others. The most appreciated
foreign pIsywrights / sold were Ibsen,
Leasing, Hauptmann and Maeterlinck.
The biographies Of BENJAMIN Franklin
and Abraham Lincoln were the best sellers
among the American books. Other very
popular American authors among my
customers were Cooper. Poe. I.ongfellow.
living American authors we'll known in
Russia are Jack London, Mark Twain,
! Upton Sinclair and Edwin Markham.
Certain OF the Russian publishers have
tried the publication OF the most popular
American novels, but they have entirely
failed. because the Russian readers feel
the lack Of such psychological profound
meas or ethical tendency as they have
been educated TO expect from their own
novelists.
.One publisher brought out some Of
Edgar Allan Poe's best stories and his
Raven in an edition dc luxe and soon
after wrote me that he did not think he
would ever get his money back. He was
surprised that winter when three edi-
tions of these books were sold.
The English classics that sold best
among my customers were Shakespeare.
Milton. Emerson, Darwin, Dickens, Spen-
cer and Byron The Russian readers
like English poetry and admire the English
philosophy. but they dislike the English
hction. The French. Hungarian or
far more than the English. As a rule
before anybody bought q new book by
an unknown writer he asked me to give
him a short scenario and my personal
opinion OF 1t.
Russian books look different from
American books, particularly as regards
binding. Most Russian volumes. as In
other Continental countries. are issueC
In paper covers. Russian readers disliks
conventionally bound books. They
think these are meant for young people
students, or for undeveloped minds
Everybody in Russia likes to bind hil
books according TO his own taste.
ITO my customers | could sell classic,
, or works Of famous authors in editor
bindings. but never a new book by al
unknown author. One publisher whS
Issued Mark Twain's works desired X
: make them more attractive by initiating
the, original American edition. He solS
! three editions Of the regular paper covers
whereas the bound edition found NJ
buyers.
cOrrAAnondinR In n k0 In thla OolIntr nv