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    Boo^etle^ of To-Da? .

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    OLD AND NEW STYLES IN rmTT\/\ s~*d TT"W ...

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  • Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.

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    498 The Publishers' Circular May i , 18 90

    Boo^Etle^ Of To-Da? .

    Boo ^ etle ^ of To-Da ? .

    III . —MESSRS . BICKERS & SON . Just half a century ago Henry Bickers , a bookbinder of some reputedecided to desert his

    chosen craft and turn his , attention to bookselling o . He took the premises jrthat are still

    occupied by the firm in Leicester Square , and , in course of timedeveloped one of the most

    renowned businesses , in London . But neither Mr . Henry Bickers nor his son remain to tell of

    the founding of the firm , of its growth , or of its present position . Yet there are those left who ,

    in a few years to come , may be able to honourably represent the house in name and repute .

    In the meantime , a guiding hand that has not allowed the well-built ship to deviate from its

    given course has been found X in the person of Mr . John Harwoodwho may well be

    honoured 4 booksellers with of to an -day earl . ' y , position among the

    The premises occupied by Messrs . Bickers & Son are excellently situated at a street cornerone of the large window fronts facing

    Leicester , Square . Every _ floor is packed with books , and the shop J . itself is rather representa J .-

    tive of a gentleman ' s library than a show room . Through the glass cases are seenin

    glittering array C 3 , innumerabl O e volumes , handsomel , O y bound in the best style . Many are clothed

    in crushed levant of various hues , and a large number bound in the old-fashioned flat-back style . The house justly prides — —

    itself upon its f binding . Hidden away % / among JL the central pile of books is a sanctum occupied

    by Mr . Harwood , and it was here that our representative i . found him carefully study •/ ing — O

    the affairs of the firm . For thirty-eight years has he worked here continuously «/ , but thougOh

    time may have stolen the colour from his hair and beardt there is as yet no trace of inability ;

    in fact , Mr , . Harwood appears now to be in the prime JL of his working < J life , full of energy O % /

    and interest in the affairs of the day . Asked for a brief history of the houseMr .

    Harwood replied with calculating * l , deliberation , : ' The house was started about 1840 , as near as

    I can remember , by Mr . Henry Bickers . Ten years later , about 1850 , Mr . Bush was taken

    when into partnershi he retired p in , and favour continued of Mr . Bickers until 1863 jun . ,

    I joined the firm as an assistant on January , 1 , 1852 , at the time when the great contest

    between the publishers and the booksellers on the question of underselling was going onand

    which X involved the princip le of free C ? O trade , in books . Upon the retirement of Mr . Bush t took

    up the position of manager of the retail department , and Mr . Bickers , jun « i ., managr-j ed th — e

    sen publishing . died . and It his was son in 1875 died that nine Mr . Bickers — later — , / f - - ~ years

    _^ , , tfaB V h •/ _ , activel in 1884 ^ " ^ ^ " y . engaged There ^ is ^ in no the member firm ^ now of the . On famil . ^ the ^— y

    appointed death of Mr sole . Bickers manage , six r b years y the ago Court , I was of

    • JL O «/ Chancery , and the hope was also expressed in his will that I should carry on the business for

    the benefit of the widow and children . There are four children altogether ¦ .

    ' What is the chief feature of the house , Mr .

    Jlarwood ('

    class ' Well booksellers , we have , princi been pall noted y standard here as editions

    highthoroug endeavoured bound in h first good to -class work keep bindings 3 up the . reputation I have always for

    iaiisiisu . g . 1 . 1 . , , guuu nui &< . ' Does your experience cover any unusual incidents % '

    Mr . Harwood gradually broke into a broad smile , and then related the following : — ' At — - the ~ — — time — — Mr — . Gladstone - was appointed «— — - ^ — .. __ ^

    Commissioner to the Ionian Islands , he _ came ^^ ^^ here and asked for u The History of Corfu . "

    About that time a book had just been published entitled " The History of Court Fools . "

    It was by Dr . Doran ; and as I thought that was what he asked for I sent it to him . He

    enjoyed the joke immensely , and the error was soon corrected . ' Replying to further questions t / Mr .

    Harwood x said •/ < z ? he . had had no deman , d for the Cobden - Sanderson school of binding ^ J ; he

    believed in good solid work only . As to the firm ' s publications , they included Pepys — '

    A ' % J . L •/ Diary , of which a thousand copies were printed x , and for which there was now a

    great works , demand including ; many Hervey r > 4 nt reprints < u ' s 6 George of standard II— ., J int l and Swift * works t in nineteen i

    volumes wo voumes ;' The , Life and ' s Times of Selwyn ' and "l the il 1 * 1 "* * edition 1 * i * of C ^ A 11 edited I ' ll ,

    library Shakspeare , by Dyce . ' Have you any pet opinion upon the

    burning question Yfts Yes ! 1 T think think of undersell it it should should ing 1 ' have ha . vft hppn been lett lftffc at at . ;

    2 d . in the shilling , which gave a fair profit for everybody . I should not have started it

    myself if I had not been forced into it by the Army and Navy Stores and Hatchard's . I am

    glad to see an attempt is being made by some publishers to issue their books at net price . ' * Has the demand for standard works varied

    much ?' ' No ; but there is a great decrease in the supp ly % i 7 owing to — so many books going to

    America xn , and never returning «/ . We find o it difficult to get really good second-hand books

    —much more difficult than it was thirty years ago . The Americans are keen after them .

    This is especially the case with such works as Walpole ' sJesse ' sand writers like Miss Freer ;

    , , the } r have all gone up in value . ' After further pleasant conversation our

    half representative an hour with left one , know who ing was that competent he had spent to hold his own with any contemporary

    bookseller , in the selection of such works as go to

    form an English gentleman s library .

    Old And New Styles In Rmtt\/\ S~*D Tt"W ...

    OLD AND NEW STYLES IN rmTT \/\ s ~* d TT"W A " ¦""* . TTT "W 1 "

    TYPOGRAPHY . At a meeting — _ of the ^ . — Societ __ y ^ of Arts —on

    April 16 , Mr . Talbot ^ B . Reed _ read an _ „ interest „ - ing and valuable paper on ' Old and New

    that Styles his in object Typograp was hy . to The draw speaker attention explained to the

    fashions belonging to the Roman character in typograp ¦ ¦ ¦ hy ¦ —namel i to the type in 11 which ¦ i

    ¦ books - ^~ ^ r ^ ^^^ ^^^ m are - ^ r ^ m h «^ p ^ mm printed w ^ p m ^^ "mr " ^ p » pi « . ^^ " w >« y w He ^ , B ^^ wished ***^ ^^ " m ™ ^ " ^ ^^^ to ^ P * ^ J ^^ " make ^ ^^ P" p ^ p ^ p ^ a w brief — - - historical survey of the changes through which

    the character had passed m the hands or . A

• Citation
  • Publishers’ Circular (1880-1890), May 1, 1890, page 498, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/pc/issues/tec_01051890/page/12/