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562 The Publishers' Circular May 15,18 9...
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Boo&j&Ilei£$ of To-Da^.
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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.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
562 The Publishers' Circular May 15,18 9...
562 The Publishers' Circular May 15 , 18 90
Boo&J&Ilei£$ Of To-Da^.
Boo & j & Ilei £$ of To-Da ^ .
IV . —MR . SAMUEL MULLEN , J . P . Those who interest themselves in colonial
trading will need no detailed information upon the sudden growth of many now famous houses existing in British dependencies . The tale
has been o recently told by an able pen in the columns of the Publishers' Circular _ 7 and our
readers are acquainted with the wonderful , record of certain Australasian bookselling
firms . The subject of this notice , however , is one whose name is equally well known in
London as in Australia ; and , as Mr . Mullen is now residing in Englandour representative
was able to obtain C ? from < J him , some interesting particulars X concerning CJthe business he has
created . The firm as it at present exists is known as Messrs . MelvilleMullen &
Sladebooksellersstationersand , librariansof 262 , and 264 Collins , Street , Melbourne . The , London
office is in Ludgate , Square , and the business carried on here is simp . X ly «/ that of exporting t O
books to the house in Melbourne . A spacious , well-lig hted ground O floor in Ludgat C ? e Square X
has been converted into a convenient suite of officesand here Mr . Mullen was found calmly
busying , himself with such work as devolves upon L the London agent O of the house . Appa
LArently in good health , and quite equal to business care , although he has seen threescore
year 3 slip by , Mr . Mullen welcomed the caller with a quiet unemotional air peculiar to those who have spent long years in the colonies .
He referred to the incidents O «/ of his life in brief sentencesfrom which the listener was left to
select as , he pleased , Mr . Mullen evidently attaching O little or no importance X to any one
particular item . He said : — & Co ' I . served of Dublin my time —that with was Messrs about . McGlashan ? 46 . I
was manager , to Mr . George Robertson in Melbournebut we were apprentices together
in Dublin . , We went out together in 52 , it was the first trip Xof the '' Great Britain . "
The three leading booksellers in Melbourne were Mr . RobertsonMr . E . W . Coleand
myself . We three landed , there on the , same day . It was a coincidence , because Mr . Cole
went out earlier in another ship , but his ship was delayed . On November 12 , ' 52 , we
arrived . As you know , Cole ' s . is an extraordinary 4 1 commence place in d Melbourne business for . mself ia 1859 y
in Collins Street , Melbourne , with a circulating library a la Mudie . That style of thing
was unknown there at the time , and I soon took the lead as a retail bookseller . Robertson was the wholesale man . The business
progressed until last year , when I sold out to Messrs . MelvilleMullen & Slade . I am the
London 4 fc You xou agent were were for a a , popular Donular them . ' man man in in Melbourne Melbourne . 1 I
believe ?' , * WellI was connected with several of the
charitable , institutionsand held the office of honorary treasurer of , the Melbourne Orphan
1 X Asylum . 1 was also an active member of the
Melbourne Shakspeare Society , a flourishing
little me with literary an address coterie when . The I left members also a handsome presented
, — — — — ' ^ ^* - » rw >^ ^ 44 m j album ^ ^ . The ^ P ^ V ^ B Ik Government ^^^ J d appointed A ^ K me Returning Officer of the electoral district in
trate which - — I a lived J . P . , and I was they a strong also made supporter me a magis of ¦» w the A . 4 A -
Conservative Government in Australia , but as a matter of fact it would have been called a
Liberal Government in England . 1 did all I could — — -r to ~ - prevent __ .- the . Americans from intro mwl ^ __ ^_ V . ^ ^_^
-ducing pirated editions into the colonies , and was always on the watch for them like an
excise officer . ' ' How does trade out there compare with
that t ) f England ?' There is a great deal of business done
there ' by the "book fiend . " Then there is a postal X regulation <—> in Victoria by v which all
periodicals published within a specified time are allowed to be posted as newspapers . I was instrumental in getting the Act passed
and the booksellers acknowledged my offices , in that direction . '
' What is the " book fiend ' s" particular line ?'
The Americans are very active in putting together old booksand they do a large
business c ? in the colonies , . They t / get out Bibles with dictionaries and concordances attached
books on household medicine and historical , works . They are merely compiled from old
sources and put together in a mechanical way . These are circulated by the '' book fiends "
who travel all over the colonies . As a rule , these ' fiends " will not leave a house without
an order , and occasionally frighten women who are left Which alone class into subscribing of work meets . ' with the
readiest sale in Australia ? ' The chief thing there _ _ is — — lig ht literature .
There are very few of the leisured classes , and fiction is the great staple . They are fond of
books of adventure and travel . We have arranged ^^^ F * K « 0 fe ^^^ tr ^ k ^ K M |^ h ^ ^ ^^ r ^ m with 9 w *^ ^ F * V 4 * Messrs ^¦^ * ^ . ^^ ~ i ~ ^>^ ^^^ ^ p ^ ^ % ^ . ^ Sampson r ^^^ v ^^ p * m ^ m ** k _^ p ^^ ^^ r ^ m ¦ ^ K ^ Low ^^ b ^^ ^^ w w & ^ fc' ^ fa ' ' Co ^ . ^ ^ - * . to
supply us with a colonial edition of Stanley's ' In Darkest Africa' there . Old books on
Australian travel also sell well , and are becoming 1 very scarce . ' 7
What about school books ' ? ' The school system is free and compulsory , and the Government — g-ives - a _ largjje quan - tity of
o .-- - x books away . Nearly all the State schools are supp j £ , J . lied b .- y the Government __ . , and wherever
the parents plead poverty the books are given . are By a N parliamentary elsons ' and the regulation tender the for books l used is suppy
opened every , twelve months . Messrs . Nelson have been obliged to alter their series to suit
the colonies Is underselling . ' known out there , Mi
Mullen % ' i * New books are uniformly sold at published
teachers pr WLWVAJLVA ices , with . * Of V ^ ' * certain . cours X- 'V ^ « - « , A K ** e - ' deductions there «/ AA ^/« - ~ KS * is ^* underselling * . m AA to ^ v ^ . V ^ A libraries » 9 - * -r « . m * . * - *^\ , and but rw
it is qualified by the expense of carrying on business , rent and wages of assistants being
higher Mr . than Mullen in Great then broug Britain ht . out a copy of the firm ' s monthly circular of literature , which was ftHt . n . KIiflhfM ] about six vfiara aco . and which
consists of about twenty-four pages .
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Citation
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Publishers’ Circular (1880-1890), May 15, 1890, page 562, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/pc/issues/tec_15051890/page/10/
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