Che Publishers' Weekly. FOUNDED BY F. LEYPOLDT. OCTOBER 19, 1889. In case of business changes, notification or card should be immediately sent to this office for entry under "Business Notes." New catalogues issued will also be mentioned when forwarded. “Every man is a debtor to his profession, from the which, as men do of course seek to receive countenance and profit, so ought they of duty to endeavor themselves by way of amends to be a help thereunto."-LORD BACON. AN APPEAL TO CÆSAR." LAST Spring Mr. A. D. F. Randolph addressed to a few of the leading houses in the general publishing trade a letter specifically asking them to consider such a change in the system of discounts as might stay the demoralization of the retail trade before the distributing system was further broken down. One or two houses did give the matter partial consideration, others made merely formal response, and still others did not answer. This fall, Mr. W. R. Jenkins has sent a circular letter to the leading school-book houses and has received replies from most of them, which have been printed in the PUBLISHERS' WEEKLY without names. These two eminent booksellers (experienced also as publishers) expressed the difficulties felt by hundreds of booksellers throughout the country. The suggestions implied in their letters were not in the direction of any trust or agreement as to prices or any measure contrary to the general laws of trade. They simply suggested a return to the method of doing business which is at once rational and fair-the only obstacle in the way of which is the fear of each publisher that if he took the desired step, somebody else would get the better of him by not taking it. nal price of books about what they are now actually sold for, and then to rearrange their lines of discount accordingly and stick to the new lines. Of course, there will be pressure again to increase the discount five per cent. here and two and one-half per cent there; to give discounts to individual purchasers who should not have them as well as to the trade who should. The millennium has not come, nor will business be without its difficulties even after such a reform has been put in practice. But the great firms will find it definitely to their advantage to revive the retail book trade in this way, and they will be building up instead of destroying their distributive machinery. In behalf of the retailers, we ask Messrs. Harper, Appleton, Scribner, Putnam, Houghton, Lippincott, and the other leading houses fairly entitled to be called the heads of the trade, to look into this matter carefully and fairly, and see if they cannot each for himself, or by common agreement, begin to right the system of the American book trade. With all these houses, the merest agreement or announcement will serve the purposes in question. Most of the advantage of the cheap publishers and the reason for the existence of dry-goods bazaars will be taken away. When the margin for breaking down prices is reduced by a common-sense measure like this, the public will be glad to pay the retail bookseller the slight profit he demands in return for the service he renders. The school-book trade has reached close to the bottom level of retail prices. Nowhere in the world are books so good in text, so finely illustrated, so excellently made, sold at a lower price. The business is in its nature a wholesale one, where the competition is great and the prices very close. All the same, it costs something to handle this business locally, to distribute the books, particularly to supply single copies to scholars, and to keep a stock which should permit that supply to be prompt and sufficient. If a teacher runs a retail bookstore it must be at the expense of his teaching time. All that the re er. But it is high time that the fact of the increas-tailers ask, as we understand it, is that so far as ing demoralization should be faced by the great houses if they are to hold the leadership of the trade or if the trade is to be preserved from utter demoralization. Their one error, ever since the mistake made by the A. B. T. A. in 1876, has been in neglecting to rearrange business on the basis of the present actual prices of books, which are by no means the advertised retail prices. Notoriously, booksellers do not get publishers' prices," but the public still hold to the superstition that they do, and consequently flock to the dry-goods stores where prices are supposed to be broken. The only way out is for the leading publishers to set the example of a sufficiently general reduction of retail prices to make the nomi practicable this local handling of the books shall be done by them as local agents of the publishThis would not interfere with the making of arrangements between publishers and schools direct, but would transfer to dealers the local handling and the kind of petty business which individual teachers now do. The simple way to accomplish this result is not to give to individual customers (teachers) the same discounts allowed to traders (retailers) who mass orders and do the local work of distribution. We suggest to Messrs. Appleton, Barnes, Ivison, Blakeman & Co., Van Antwerp, Bragg & Co., and Harper & Bros., who do so large a part of the school-book business of the country, that they consider this matter and set an example to the smaller houses who have already indicated their desire to follow. BELFORD, CLARKE & CO.'S PROPOSI- WE learn from Mr. Caspar that the sale of at least 500 copies more of his Directory is required to recoup the expenses which he has incurred on behalf of the trade in compiling this ford, Clarke & Co., we would say that about all In reference to the account owing you by Belwork. This resembles the early experiences of the tangible property which the corporation Mr. Leypoldt in his battles on behalf of the owned has been attached by various creditors, trade. We have received from some quarters leaving very little in the hands of the Receiver of the trade criticisms of the quality of his working the matter over with the principal creditors with which to pay the unsecured claims. In talkas regards ratings, etc. Admitting that mistakes it has been decided that two corporations be have been made, we are unable to see that they de- formed, one in New York, to be known as “Belstroy or invalidate the great value of his work. ford Company," and the other in Chicago, to be known as 66 Belford, Clarke Company." The As it stands, imperfections and all, the work is principal attaching creditors in the East have so much ahead of anything of this sort that has agreed to release their attachments and put the ever been attempted, that we hope that Mr. property in the hands of "Belford Company," Caspar will receive such support from the trade Belford Co. paying to the Eastern creditors as will authorize the issue of his book another year and twelve months; Belford, Clarke Company of twenty-five cents on the dollar in three, six, nine in the improved shape which a reissue will cer- Chicago settling with all Western creditors. tainly take. Only for the leniency of the attaching and judgment creditors we would not be able to even offer that much. Of course you know how publishing property depreciates when the machinery is stopped. We give elsewhere, as a matter of public interest, the proposition made by Messrs. Belford, Clarke & Co. to their creditors. No information is vouchsafed in this statement as to their actual assets and liabilities and actual standing, and the letter is practically a jaunty exhibit of What are you going to do about it?"-very like that of the case of Mr. Geo. J. Swayne. The acceptance of such a compromise as that offered simply puts a premium on recklessness and everything else that is bad in business method, and is a knock-down blow to men who are trying to keep in business and pay their debts. The printers and paper-makers who have lent credit under such circumstances, and who, it is stated, agree to a compromise on this basis, may be in so bad a fix as to make it necessary for them to get what they can out of the ruin. But for publishers to set a concern on its feet again on such a basis as this, is to make a thrust in the back at every man who is trying to do business on the basis on which alone permanent success ought to be won -the payment of a hundred cents on the dollar. THE SCHOOL-BOOK DIFFICULTIES: ANOTHER PUBLISHER REPLIES. "We think all you say is reasonable, and we believe that we have (not seldom with considerable sacrifice to ourselves) made as much of a struggle as anybody in the trade to conform our practices to what the conditions manifestly call for. "We, of course, are not the house to initiate a concerted movement in this matter. If the syndicates (to which we do not happen to belong) were to take it up, we would undertake to be as rigid as any regulations they might make, at least as long as they would be." Belford, Clarke Company of Chicago will be operated by Mr. Belford, Mr. Clarke and some new men who intend to put in fresh capital in the business. The Eastern business will be operated by Mr. Robert Belford, with the principal creditors having a say in its management until such five per cent. We know that the offer is not a time as the Eastern creditors receive their twenty, large one, but we think with the new capital that will go into the business that we will be able in the future to do a safe and large business, and the two concerns to reimburse you for the loss trust that before long you will make enough off made on Belford, Clarke & Company. The offer has already been accepted by unsecured creditors holding over ninety (90) per cent. of the liabili ties. We hope that you will accept this offer, as we assure you that it is the best possible thing that can be done. If the attaching and judgment creditors sell out under the sheriff, they will not get the amount of their judgment. If the offer is accepted, kindly sign the enclosed and send to Robert Belford, 22 East 18th Street, New York. Yours very truly, BELFORD, CLARKE & Co., THE PHI BETA KAPPA PRIZE COM, THE National Council of the "Phi Beta Kappa Society," at its triennial meeting at Saratoga in September, appointed a committee to consider means of securing, in connection with the proposed national commemoration of the discovery of America in 1892, "a proper representation of the intellectual life of the American people, as manifested by their progress in science and literature." The committee was instructed especially to consider the prepa ration of a "monumental work," to comprise a series of monographs on the progress of our people, during the four centuries since the discovery by Columbus, in science and literature. The committee was authorized to offer two prizes of $3000 each, "for the best general essays on the progress of science and literature respectively. Such essays to embrace a philosophical discussion of the development in the past and of the outlook for the future." The committee appointed is a thoroughly competent and admirably representative one, its members being Bishop Henry C. Potter, chairman; President Eliot, of Harvard University; President Dwight, of Yale; President Gilman, of Johns Hopkins; President Adams, of Cornell; President Angell, f the University of Michigan, and President Northrup, of the University of Minnesota. AWARDS TO AMERICAN PUBLISHERS AT THE PARIS EXPOSITION. ACCORDING to the Journal Officiel de la République Française, dated September 30, just received at this office, we find that the following American publishing houses have been awarded prizes for their exhibits at the Paris Exposition: In the Department of Art, etc., L. Prang & Co. received a gold medal. In the Department of Education, Instruction, etc., the Grand Prix (a Diploma of Honor, being the highest award) was won by the Johns Hopkins University. GUSTAV FREYTAG, the novelist, will shortly erick, taken from his notes during the war, and publish a little work on the late Emperor Fredhis letters from the camp down to the election of the German Emperor. HORATIO SEYMOUR, of Marquette, Mich., who was formerly State Engineer of New York, is preparing for publication the correspondence of Gov. Horatio Seymour, and desires to secure copies of letters not already in his possession. LAFCADIO HEARN, the author of "Chita," is both a Greek and an Englishman. He was born, in 1850, in Santa Maura, one of the Ionian Islands. His mother was a native Greek, and his father a surgeon in the British army. Mr. Hearn has for a long time made the United States his country by adoption. M. RENAN is at work on the fourth volume of his "History of Israel." He is also correcting the proof-sheets of a new book to be entitled "The Future of Science." It is an essay entirely written as long ago as 1848, and deals, among other topics, with the theory of development subsequently enunciated by Darwin. In various other matters M. Rénan is shown to have antici pated subsequent discoveries in the fields of knowledge, and to have indicated the general direction to which science was tending. He has neither added to nor excised a single passage from his earlier essay, the only alterations introduced being those of style.-Tribune. LIEUTENANT R. H. FLETCHER, U. S. A., the author of "A Blind Bargain," has had an interestingly varied history. He is a son of Dr. Robert Fletcher, well known in connection with the library of the Surgeon-General's office, Washington, and the excellent bibliographical work done there. He graduated from the U. S. Naval Academy in 1872, but was afterwards transferred into the army and for some years served on the Indian frontier as aide-de-camp to General Howard. Lieut. Fletcher was afterward detailed for service on the Pacific coast and was retired in 1887, " for disability contracted in the line of duty." He has since his retirement done more or less literary work, but "A Blind Bargain" is his first novel. In it his naval and army experiences are interestingly utilized. He now resides in San Franciso. MR. GORDON L. FORD, of Brooklyn, has in press a number of interesting unpublished agreements between Washington and his overseers and workmen, throwing much light upon the management of his estates, as well as on the "labor question" of colonial Virginia. The agreements are copied from the originals in Washington's writing, and all date before the Revolution.. In this volume will also be included a correspondence that Washington had in 1774 with a number of merchants and others concerning a scheme he entertained of importing German Palatines to settle upon his western lands, and one of Washington's advertisements for runaway servants. Very little of this material has been published heretofore, and "Washington as an Employer and Importer of Labor" will present a new phase of his character. The edition will be limited to 500 copies. JOURNALISTIC NOTES. THE next (November) number of the Century begins the twentieth year of the magazine with a notable number in which Jefferson's autobiography will begin; also novels by Frank Stockton and Amelia E. Barr. Among the contributors to this number will be Mark Twain, George Kennan, Walt Whitman, Col. Higginson, Aubrey de Vere, Brander Matthews, Judge Ernest Crosby, Margaret Deland, Dr. Huntington (of Grace Church, New York), W. J. Stillman, Nicolay and Hay, and Charles Henry Webb. Sun and Shade, published by the Photo-Gravure Co., N. Y.. has just concluded the first volume of a most successful year. Starting almost as an experiment, with a list of less than fifty subscribers, it has by dint of its excellency won for itself, as its publishers claim, a circulation of 4000 copies monthly. It is a novel undertaking in that it is simply a picture periodical without letterpress excepting a table of contents. In the next volume will be presented reproductions of leading pictures in the Metropolitan Museum of Art; portraits of prominent leading men, first among which will be one of Mr. W. H. Appleton, the senior of the firm of D. Appleton & Co., to be followed by one of Henry George; and reproductions of the works of American artists, whether painters, sculptors, or architects. The reproductions by whatever process are all of the very best quality. The subscription price is $4 per year. OBITUARY NOTES. SAMUEL ROCKWELL REED, author of "The War of 1886," "Woman, and other essays," and for years a noted editorial writer on the Cincinnati Commercial Gazette, over the signature "S. R. R.," died on the 6th inst. on the steamer Lahn, on the way over to Europe. He intended to take a European tour for his health. NOTES AND QUERIES. ANSWER TO NO. 1-The Journal of the Society of Bibl. Lit. is henceforth to be published by a committee of three-Prof. J. H. Thayer, of Cambridge; Rev. L. H. Cobb, Bible House, N. Y.; and Prof. Geo. F. Moore, Andover, Mass. The publications of the Society are in charge of Prof. C. · R. Bunn, Newton Centre, Mass. W. F. D. NOTES ON CATALOGUES. GEORGE P. HUMPHREY, 25 Exchange St., Rochester, N. Y., has issued a neat catalogue of 376 books in various branches of literature. The titles are given in full and frequently annotated. (No. 21, 32 p., 16°.) HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN & Co. have issued an index to their Atlantic Monthly covering the years 1857 to 1888. A brief history of the magazine prefaces the volume, which is handsomely printed and bound in green cloth. JAMES POTT & Co., Astor Place, N. Y., have just issued a catalogue of the theological and miscellaneous literature published and imported by them. It contains as a frontispiece a view of the interior of their handsome and cosey retail department. (32 p., sq. 8°.) THE LIBRARY BUREAU, 146 Franklin St., Boston, have issued a neat illustrated catalogue of the Card Index outfits manufactured only by the Bureau. These outfits will be found useful and convenient by others than librarians-by business men, all, in fact, who have to keep lists of addresses that are subject to frequent changes, by banks, railways, and others. (32 p., 8°.) WM. EVARTS BENJAMIN, 6 Astor Place, N. Y., has sent us a batch of catalogues, foremost among which is, of course, his new list of Autograph Letters (No. 26). The catalogue describes an interesting collection of strictly authentic manuscripts, with the signatures of their authors. (16 p., sq. 8°.) The other catalogues are one of Standard Books at reduced prices (No. 23, 24 p., 8°); Daintie Foode for Booke-Wormes," a selection of rare and desirable books (No. 24, 4 p., 8°); and a supplement of 16 pages to the Book-Lover for September, containing a collection of good books. Catalogues of New and Second-Hand Books.U. P. James, 151 W. 7th St., Cincinnati, American history, general and local. (No. 34, 32 p., 8°.) -E. W. Johnson, 1336 Broadway, N. Y., Scarce and interesting books, including some American. (No. 10, 12 p., 8°.)-Lea Bros. & Co., 706 Sansom St., Phila., Medical and surgical publications, classified and indexed. (32 p., 8°.)-Lockwood & Coombes, 275 Fifth Ave., N. Y., R are and curious second-hand books, American and foreign-neatly printed and very fully annotated. (No. 9, 24 p., 16°.) LITERARY AND TRADE NOTES. J. E. MUNSON, Tribune Building, N. Y., has reprinted his important "Phonographic PhraseBook," which has long been out of print. "AN APPEAL TO PHARAOH," recently published by Fords, Howard & Hulbert, we understand, is making much discussion, especially at the South, leading papers treating it editorially on repeated occasions. CASSELL & Co. have published in their Sunshine Series a remarkably interesting story entitled "The Lost Inca," by the Inca Pancho Ozollo. The descriptions in this story of Peru and Lake Titacaca are all real and as seen by the author, long a resident of Peru. THE Reform Club, N. Y., has just issued a Tariff Dictionary, explaining the specific and ad valorem duties as imposed on every article under the present law and as proposed by the Mills and Senate bills. It has been prepared by the Tariff Reform Committee of the club. J. G. CUPPLES COMPANY announce a little book entitled "The Elixir of Life," being a compilation of what has been written concerning Dr. Brown-Sequard's discovery. It also contains "Dr. Brown-Sequard's own account of his famous alleged remedy for debility and old age, Dr. Variot's experiments, and a sketch of Dr. Brown-Sequard's life, and a portrait. ESTES & LAURIAT have just published a fine illustrated edition of Owen Meredith's beautiful poem, "The Earl's Return." The drawings by W. L. Taylor are of special value from the fact that the publishers sent the artist direct to Normandy where the scene is located, and the scenes are faithfully depicted, instead of being created from the imagination of the artist. They have, also, just ready two delightful volumes for young people-"Feathers, Furs, and Fins," by C. Emma Cheney, Kate Tannatt Woods, Mrs. D. P. Sandford, and others, a collection of stories about birds, fishes, and animals, both wild and domestic, with illustrations; and "Queen Hildegarde," by Laura E. Richards, the talented daughter of Julia Ward Howe, a new and charming story for girls, with many original illustrations by E. H. Gar rett. THE J. B. LIPPINCOTT Co. will publish at once the fourth volume of the new edition of “Chambers' Encyclopædia." The new volume extends from Dionysius to Friction, and contains a large number of specially interesting articles; among them is a biographical sketch of Emerson, by Dr. O. W. Holmes; District of Columbia; Benjamin Franklin; Florida; Dollar; Duluth, etc. A colored plate of the flags of all nations is included, together with maps of the district of Columbia, England, Europe, Florida, and France. The entire work is marked by the thoroughness and skill of arrangement which characterize the preceding volumes of the edition. They have just ready a volume on the development of bicycles, tricycles, and man-motor carriages, by Robert P. Scott, under the title of "Cycling Art, Energy, and Locomotion ;" also "The Pariah," F. Anstey's latest story. CORRECTION FOR EDUCATIONAL CATALogue."Stillwell's Practical Exercises in Analysis is published by W. D. Kerr, N. Y., not by Thos. Whittaker, to whom the book has been credited by an accidental transposition of the type of the keyword, which ought to be Kw, instead of WK. SAMPSON LOW & Co. will publish shortly a biography of Palmerston, by the Marquis of Lorne. "HOW TO CATALOGUE A LIBRARY," by Mr. Henry B. Wheatley, is announced by Mr. Elliot Stock as the forthcoming volume of the BookLover's Library. KEGAN PAUL, Trench & Co. will publish immediately, as vol. v. of the author's Collected Works, a new edition of Mr. Lewis Morris' "Songs of Britain," enlarged by various odes and poems written since 1887, when that work appeared. LONGMANS, GREEN & Co. will publish this month a volume on "France and Her Republica record of things seen and heard in the Centennial year, 1889," by W. H. Hurlburt, formerly editor of the N. Y. World. Mr. Hurlburt is a keen and well-informed student of men and movements, and, therefore, his impressions of French affairs ought to prove interesting, especially at the present crisis. They will also publish soon a book on "Russia in Central Asia in 1889, and the Anglo-Persian Question," by George Curzon, M.P., who made a detailed examination of the Trans-Caspian country last fall. The book will contain maps from the latest investigations, some forty illustrations, and a bibliography. They have in preparation a brief history of the growth of modern music under the title of "The Story of Music," by W. T. Henderson, the musical critic of the New York Times. AUCTION SALES. [We shall be pleased to insert under this heading, without charge, advance notices of auction sales to be held anywhere in the United States. Word must reach us before Wednesday evening, to be in time for issue of same week. OCTOBER 21, and following days, 3.30 P.M.-Valuable pri vate library (collected by Wm. Jones), consigned by E. H. Butler & Co., consisting of the choicest English editions of standard works.-Thomas Birch's Sons, Phila. OCTOBER 21, and following days.-Theological and philosophical works, comprising the libraries of the late Prof. L. W. E. Ramoenhoff and other eminent theologians. (Catalogues ready.)-E. J. Brill, Leyden, Holland. OCTOBER 28.-Parcel sale of new books, fancy holiday and menu books, gold pens, pencil-cases, diaries for 1890, etc.-Ezekiel & Bernheim, Cincinnati, O. OCTOBER 29.-Parcel sale of books and stationery.—Bangs. OCTOBER 30, 3 P.M.-Nuggets for collectors of Washington portraits and early imprints; also rare collection of early Philadelphia almanacs with imprints of Bradford, Franklin, etc.—Thos. Birch's Sons, Phila. Booksellers and collectors are awaiting with interest the publishing of the sale catalogue of the late Mr. Barlow's library. His hobby was for books relating to or printed in this country. Among the principal gems in his collecdiscovery of the New World: a copy of Amerigo Vespuction are two copies of Columbus' letter announcing the ci's Mundus Novus," published between 1502 and 1508; the first known map of America, drawn about 1506 or 1507 by John Ruysch, for the 1509 edition of Ptolemy, printed at Rome; a large-paper copy (one of three in this country) of Captain John Smith's History of Virginia; two interesting tracts which, by the late Henry Stevens, were once quaintly characterized as "the verie two eyes of New England history "-John Brereton's "Briefe and True Relation of the Discoverie of the North Part of Virginia," 1602; also Mourt's "Relation or Journal of the England," printed in 1622; and a prayer-book said, on the Beginning of the English Plantation at Plimoth (sic), New authority of Winthrop Sargeant, to have been bound for and used by General Washington. Besides these there are hundreds of other volumes all more or less valuable and rare. The catalogue is being carefully compiled by J. O. Wright, and will be issued in a few weeks. |