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p_-__^*-_ Pu —pi _. -a *_i a ^ a _-vj • ...
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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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Mystery Of The Christmas Book. By O. B. ...
• - tr an ations d apparentl may y thus littl T e > e cost produced with wh have ich led illus to
-^ mw .. v ^ p *^ p » w ^ mw w _^^ p * . Mp * ^^^ p * ^™ ™ ™ » ¦ ^ p" ^™ - ^^^"—» " _ ™ a _ _™ r ^^ p' - ^^^ m ^^_ " - ^ p" ~ ™ — ™~ ^™ " _ ~ ™ — — - - — - —» the publication of ambitious and costlyfolios , many of which are very artistic , and reflect But
great credit upon artists and publishers . ike size is cumbersomethe prices are high
j Ttnd hence , although a , small sale would »__ J be , Sufficient , I aifn afraid the results in most
cases have not been pecuniarily gratifying . ) Phototype reproductions , moreorer , are not al
-5 | -ways artistically satisfactory . ! In some ; in admi stances rably repeated artist ; ' s but drawing great s' c have arelarge been
experience , and exact knowledge are neces , sary , and hence many attempts in this direction are
I I -scarcel It y is accep supposed IT JL table JL . "b y ^/ many % / pe mW 7 oI ple that
j ari will ything do for , esp a ec Christmas ially in the book way . So of ™ far poerr from ^
| thi favourite s being true , all onl exp will erience do for has the shown that ose J poems y purp
I —poems like * The Deserted Village , ' Gray ' s ja ; 'El . Ejiegy egy , ' 'The ± ne F j _ orest ores _ Hymn nyran ' and axio , ' ' Snow
onow--| bound . ' Well-established favourites , such as thesealone will justify expenditure for
i - o j — _ —• - illustrati ons , Unles , s the artist has a great i reputation ' . Recently a number of popular
i' hymns and short religious poems have been issued in tiny volumes invitingly illustrated ,
{ bound in a showy manner , and sold at a low \ price—glittering trifles that appeal to the
\ i nignest fuerhest religious reliorious sentiment sentiment and ana the tae smallest smallest ) incomes , and hence have been successful . 5 But pretty much everything in the language
_ m c _ c cr « well ^ V adapted ¦ ^ ^ for m ^ a Christmas ^~* m \ * M m * book mM * M has * ¦ been ^ » ' ¦¦ us ¦* ¦ ™ ed - *** — ™ . - ^ ¦ Peop w »« *^^ ^—* * r le _ t ^ whose w w «—» mm ^¦ p' ¦ _• ^^ pp" recollections _ h ^ m ^ ^^ ^ - ^ - _ b ^— ^^ p' ^^ r ^^ ^ _» ^^ Jm * mm * Hi f extend ^^^ _ fc ^ fc ^ . v ^ _ f % A ^ t ^^ m -
) "back thirty years will recall the charming 1 volifmes that came from the prolific pencil of
Birket Foster . But Birket Foster has left no successor in England , and only in a few
instances has ' his success been equalled here . i He fairly exhausted English poetic literature , that isthe shorter poems adapted for ill us ¦ -
, I . tration . Artists of to-day have been compelled ' to travel largely over his well-beaten ground , so far as the poetry of England is concerned .
I am mindful , however , of one delightful idyl , of Tennyson ' s that has not so far stimulated
the ambition of any artist . I refer to ' The 5 i Gardener ' s Daughter '—a poem' full of
en-C- j — I I chanting pictures . A dozen . years ago two j attempts were made to illustrate this poem
] but the preliminary drawings were so un- , satisfactory that the project was abandoned .
It was then proposed to the English pub-\ lishers of Tennyson to produce it in
conjunction with an American house . ' We should i be glad to act upon the suggestion' was the
I repl y , ' but 1 i who T can do 1 it ! ' Since n « , then i l a num numb ber er or of brilliant briuiant young voting artists artists have ha . vft snrinicr
up , and it may now be worth while sprung to try again . Would it succeed ? The chances h for
m ~ B » = — — — ~»— ~ ^ — r — ¦ — m ^ -v ^ -m —w w >^ W ^ ~^^ ¦ W r ~^^ - ^ ^*^ . ¦*« it would be as promising as for almost any other otner Enerlish Jinglish subject subieeL and and this this is is all all that tftat can ran
be said . , The ranks of experimenters in Christmas
books , notwithstanding all these facts , are not ~ lik - - el —~ - y m to - ¦ - — fal ' — -- l oft — * in — ~^ p number —¦ ' - * ¦ — - —¦¦ ¦ - ^ ' — ' , v - for ^— *^ r " ^ a ^~ - ^ time ^— ' —^ ^ - ^»^ ^^ - ^^ at ^ ' ^ r- ^^ - ^ least ^ ^^ * " ^ ^^^ ^^ .
' - As one house gains experience and withdraws or narrows its operations , other houses eagerly
enter the iield . Sometimes a house makes a
"j-j-^ 8 S " ¦ ¦ . " » ¦ '
¦ ^__ ^ r . —„— — — . ——_„— — ^ rus hit h with es into its first her book ventures and onl then to confidentl find that y victory is not always to the , brave y . £ recall an
went anecd into ote that business \& app ' said licable ^ an old here ublisher . * When to I , p me
once , ' my first book was a failure . Onb day a vetera r n of the - trade walked - ___ into ___ my _ office _ __ and t
iai ^ failure T d , " I of a have your ^^ com book _ r ^ e . to " congratulate ___ * ' To — _ k congratulate — - __ __ ^^— _____ . ^ you _____ / _ ^ _ — _ on i — _ . me . * _ v the ^ _* ! _ . , " _ ^ _> _ ^ ^ __
I exclaimed . "Yes , " he interrupted , " for if your first book had been a successyou would
have been sure that you knew everything , , and have branched out recklessl _ _ _ _ _ y _ . _ * Now you ^ _ __ - * - — — h ^_ fr ave ^_* m ^ j
learned caution , and , therefore , your ultimate success is certain . So I congratulate you . "'
M - __ ir * y observations « . ¦> have referre ^*__ k d exclusiyel ¦_ . _ y to books prepared especially for holiday sales
« V « m ma -a > , and which are jiot in . deman _¦ d at other periods __ . There is a large consumption at Christmas of
books of a different character— books of a class which alone , I apprehend ii , proves X . profitable JL ¦ — . I
refer to choice standard editions , of favourite poetswith or without ^ illustrationsand sets < fi
well-known , authors , put up in attra , ctive bindings ~ 1 "' U — . — v These — — - — - ^^ ¦ " " ^ - ^ are " ™ ' ¦ ¦ ^ 'asked w ^^ . ^^ ___ p ^_^ - ^ n ^» for ___ p ^_^ ^^ 4 at * ' ^ ^ i * ^ all mr ^^^^ mmt r seasons *^ ^ " * ^_^^ i m ^_^ - mw ^ tmmr ^^ , w and ^^*^ ^ ^ **»
simply enjoy a stimulated sale in December . This deotandwhich may be always depended
, •/ «/ IT upon ^ which cares nothing for the fashion of the hour , j is what , according to my jud •» gmen CJ t ,
the publisher should cater for . And J am informed that it has lately much - — increased __ — ___ . which
may account in part for the ill __ fortune th , at has befallen j = o many ambitions tomes called forth
by the magic name of Christmas . It is a wonder that so many copies of
pic--torial books are sold . What satisfaction , for instance — —— — — - — - ^ - - — — ' , -p can ^_ r i ^^ __ w ^ ¦ it v . — be ** ^ - ^ for .-B-i -k , ^ ^ mp ^ a » w gentleman ^ " ^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^* " ^ ^^^ ^^ ^^ ^^»^ -p ^ P * to ^^ *^^ present w ^_^ * mm ^_^ ^** " "'
to a lady a copy of a book—other copies of which have been paraded __¦ for six : weeks ¦ on
— — ™ ^^ ^^ m ^^ ¦ ¦ Yf 1 ^ ^^^ ^^ ^^ ^ w ~^~ ^— ' ^— ' ~^^^ ^^ ^———> ~ b ^~ ^^_ v V ^^^ ^^^ ^ ^—^* ^ * ^—V ^^^^ ^^^^^^ every book-counter iii town , and which is therefore necessarily familiar to
everybodya book which very likely the lady herself has purchase — d — as ~ — - — a — — g ^^^ m ift ~ " ~~ - for ^^ - ^_ ' ^^ -j a - ^» ^ ^ friend ^ . v ^^ »^ ^^ ^_» ** " ^^ ? v There ^__^ ^ v v ^ - ^^^ >^^ ^ _^ is ^ no
novelty , no freshness ^ no element of surprise , in « . . _» ¦ ^ . such ¦* H ^^^ v * —_ a ' ^^ m g ) B ^ % ^ ift ^ ** ^^ . * — How ^^ _ Bb ^__ " T V * much m M Jh ^^ K ^^ A Jb better * V ^ ^ n- ^ ^ ^ _ ^ ^ J ^ to m ^^ m _ ^ _ select ^^ ^^^ _^ ^^ _ ^ ^ r in " —
time some choice copy of an English classic , in j an unduplicated binding i i or some r 1 neat set of !
. books put ^ m up by - a » ^^ ' tasteful ' ^ ™¦ ^— ^ ¦ ' — ^^ B ^ M , ^ P ' ^^ ¦«« bookseller ^^^ ^ . i ^ ^^ ^*» ^^ ^^^ P W ^ P"F ^^» , ^^ ^ " ^ for ^ ~ ^ — just such selection !
I have made no reference to books for children—juvenile booksas the trade classifies j
them . The aggregate sale , of books for yoimg peop f- ' ^ - * ^* J ^ le * ¦*^ - is L ^_ # something »_» V ^ * J __ l ^_ c V _ A « I ^^> ' "immense *¦ * * * M-Ml «_/ JIJL KJ ^ - _ and LVilUi i J ncalculable IlV ( Vi . V V ** . ^ - * ' rv * - — ,
a 3 we all know . Innumerable houses into which ! a book does not enter from Christmas to !
Christmas' open their doors at this season , if ! there ~~^ —^ - ™^ —•¦ - " - ¦ "is ^ »^» a ¦• W child ^^ — ' ^** ' >** ' ^ - /** J in * . — k * fc the ^^ _ t _ h ^_ - " famil —k ^ i'W t & A M __ y W , K __ for , ^ _ f _ U something P _ F V ^ " ~ ~ ^ - » * - ^ •"" ~~ ^—J [
in the way of a book . But while the con- j the sumption competition ¦ ¦ of children ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ is ¦ ¦ intense i ' s ip books h and j in is the very Hi 4 strugg ¦ great —¦ " — le , I
^ — —^ — — ~ ^^~ r ^*" r ^^ " — —— —^ •— ^^ ^_^^ ^^ - ^ r - ^ mr " ^ » ^^ .- , «_ " ^ m *^ ^ ^^ v « l « Hb _ - > . ^ _ M * «* ^^^ ^^ ^^ ^ " ^ j beautiful many -- pro —i m are ising some work of s the go issues to the f published M wall . Very for ]
" ~ ~ " ~ ^ - . w r r r _ ^ ^ P * — p ^^ F- ^^^ ^ H ^_ ^ ^^^ - ^^ F ^ p ^ l ¦!¦ *_* " ^ ^ . P ^ _ fe | I p | _ ^^^ _ T P ^^ ^^ pT ^ ipP ^ V 9 ^^ ^» ^ M »^ pT ^ * .. *_ " ^ W" the little ones . One house in New York puts forth " ¦ ^ - ^ ¦ " v ^ — every ^ - » - v ^<> ¦_ w season w < m * -v ^ ' « - «"_ r ^ ' p _ _ h a _ W volume T * - ' M , * - ^ , k « k ^^ for •¦> V ^ * . children V * JL _ JLV _ 4 . ^* » »» that —¦—» ¦
for artiatic 4 > eauty is really captivating . Thin book— ¦ so choice ¦ i ¦ h so charming ¦ i in every feature
- — — — —— _ — ' — ¦ , ^¦ ^ r ^^^ p ^ p- ^^^^^ p » * " ^ *^ m ^ pph v ^ p ^ ^^^ JMh ^^ ^^^ *^ . ^^^ ^^ ^^*^ ^^^ y ' ' ' ^ " ^ —is , I am informed , printed in Germany , large *— - *¦»— - T ^^ ^^ editions ^^ ^^ ^ " ^ ^ " ^ being ~*^* ^*^ ^ ^ _ a _ h dup ^ - " » »^ W ^ m' ^ li fc <¦ cated ^^ * - ^ P «^ ^^ ^ J ^ for *_¦ ^^» " 4 » l _ America ¦ - ¦ rf ^>» ^ - ^ _» - ^ ir - ¦— - ,
for of this France great , and sale for a return England is assured ; and b w y hic means hif
, , the work , with its large original cost , were ^
i ¦ " ' — - — c *
P_-__^*-_ Pu —Pi _. -A *_I A ^ A _-Vj • ...
p _ - __^* - _ Pu —pi _ . -a *_ i a ^ a _ -vj m ¦
1 ^ 2 The blishers Uirc u lar J * n ; 15 , 188
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Citation
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Publishers’ Circular (1880-1890), Jan. 15, 1889, page 12, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/pc/issues/tec_15011889/page/14/
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