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Publishers’ Circular (1880-1890), 15th April 1890, Edition 1 of 1, Page 445

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      Book^Elle^ Of To-Day .

      friend in the trade expressed the hope that it would " crack me up . " Since the sketch was

      purchases published I containing have added the to record the list of . my At the big

      at Sunderland the Hamilton sale I sal boug e my ht up total to £ 33 outlay , 000 , and was

      h near as l been y £ 40 to , 000 go . to The ever feature y little sal of e my , and career then

      to attend matter how to the small wants or various of my . customers Skin , no ** pea A gCJ

      broadly , money-making has never entered my head , my object being to get the best

      books at whatever cost . I may even have to sell at cost price—in fact , there is no man who has lost more from unfortunate purchases than

      I have . ' ' Have you found any great variations in

      the tastes of book-buyers % ' ' Yes . When I was a young man at Bonn's I things were very different . Greek and Latin

      classics were in demand , and large folios sold readily . But now such books are almost down to waste-paper pricein factbulky

      books have gone -A down J . X . more , than any , thing ; else . Works containing early woodcuts of the old Italian masters always were in demand

      and are now . The books on America which , fifty years ago sold for a few shillings now fetch their weight in gold . There has been a

      marvellous demand for records of early voyages to America . The development of bookishness in that country has been extraordinary . When

      I look back at what America was forty or fifty the years influence ago the of ch the ange American is truly wonderful market is , while dail y

      asserting itself more strongly . ' 7-.- ) „ ^ 'Has not modern education affected the market V

      * No , not the old book market . It has gone in for the new cheap literature . Forty years ago Chambers and Charles Knight had

      jus time t s it tar was ted the thei fashion r cheap p in eriodica all good ls , but houses at that to buy tsold books . Now there is so much

      anxious periodical to literature sell their that old peop books le seem instead to be of buying them . Many books that formerly had

      . / o j j a commercial 4 Do you adop value t any have hard littl and e now fast . ' line

      coneeming 4 Well the , I class go in of for your the purchases early printed 1 ' books and early manuscriptsalso for anything that is

      first class , almost down , to the present day , but of Orui nineteen kshank , th Rowlandson -century poets , and the I leave first editions alone .

      This particular lino is becoming a very considerable 4 How industry is the colonial , but I and am not forei in it t . ' ?' gn

      books * A on taate earl is y spring voyages ing to that in Aus country tralia , the for same as has existed in America for some time .

      wit My h most American remarkable books transaction occurred the in other connection day . f bought the genuine first letter of Columbus ,

      America m in Snaniflli Spanish to , King announc nr » r »/' ninr Ferdinand » ir ing » nr the t . Vin and discovery rliPtf * rkV his *> w wife of nf Isabella i printed h in 1403 t at Barcelona . It

      consiats of - - » ^» ^~ w two , * ^ 4 ^ j ^ leaves ^ ^^ ^^ ^^ mt JK 4 * , and » * J ^ ^ ' ^^ I " *^ F ^* want ***" »*^ r ^* ^^ ^ £ 1 ^^ , 600 ~ ^ ^ - *^ for m * ^^ - ^^ it ^* . I gave a very long price myself . Hitherto there

      lations nave been of the in the Columbus market letter only the and Latin these trans used

      to about be worth £ 400 . £ The 100 translations apiece , but were are not now printed worth

      in other Spain old , but and in extraordinary * Italy and elsewhere books , I . have As in to

      Indian ray time Bible had and about Testament ten cop , firs ies t and of Elliot second ' s

      editions . Of European books a remarkable Mazarine circumstance Bible is I 2 have vols had . folio five ¦ cop inted ies of the by

      Gutenberg - - — -- - in 1455 , -w . The — r cheapest — - ** r ^^ -w ^ , H pr m I boug ^ ^^ v ^ ^^ ^^ ht at ^ £ 59 and the dearest £ 3 , 900 .

      bought Wh ? ' t was the dearest book you ever * I bougt _ j ht the " Psalter , " printed X by Fust

      and I have Schoutfe it still r . ' in 1459 , and gave for it £ 4 , 950 , ' There is a good lock on your front doorI

      , supp ose Oh , that Mr . Quaritch never disturb \' s me . The Mazarine and , Indian Bibles I have in the shop

      still . What the public knows nothing of is my industry v as a dealer in periodicals x — . I don't

      mean the Family Herald and that sort of and thing scientific , but the periodical M . transactions 3 . This of learned branch societies requires A ,

      few an amount booksel of lers industry ^ can ive and . attention It is battendin that very to the minutise that 1 g have been _ —_ enabled _ — y _ ____ to go j ^ g

      grea in worth for t p the mentioning urc great hases " . guns If / l I ' althoug t h k , mone upon anyth these bac ing k

      in such 1 You cases are it credi is all ted I with expect ge hav . ' indone y — h g

      to create the value of rare and uncommon book The s V value of the books is made bcomy

      petition , very few books , however old and rare , have a settled recognised commercial value . It is instinct that has guided me

      throughout my career . 1 have been a bookfancier the public myself at larg . I cater and I for look myself up m and my not stock for

      as my own library . , ' ' But you touch upon other branches of the business i 1 '

      I am a little bit of a new bookseller and a little bit of a publisher , and I consider those who put over their doors " 3 d . in the Is . " are

      ac becau ting se . ver they y wrong cannot ly g . It it is all a round dishonest , but onl act y , on certain books . '

      Thanking Mr . Quaritch for his valuable ex found pressions his way of op into inion the , our shop represen feeling tative his

      respect intensified V for the remarkable X . , collec W - tion of literature there shelved .

      » O «

      *— ' Sf April 15,1890 The Publisherscirc...

      *— ' Sf April 15 , 1890 The PublishersCircular 44

      Can The Booksellers Position Be Improved...

      CAN THE BOOKSELLERS POSITION BE IMPROVED ?

      To the Editor of the Publishers' Circular . Sir , —In connection with this question ,

      which I wish has to bring lately to received the notice so much your attention readers a , scheme founded on the International News

      Company of America ( an association of the principal newsagents for trading purposes ) which has been most successful .

      As it seems to be generally admitted that a return to the old custom of charging the m

  • Citation
    • Publishers’ Circular (1880-1890), April 15, 1890, page 445, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/pc/issues/tec_15041890/page/13/