FRANCE. ⚫40 .49 .50 .50 Angels, Roll the Rock Away. J.R. Thomas....... .50 On the Bluff. J. R. Thomas...... W. W. WHITNEY, Toledo, Ohio- Hawthorne March. Jas. M. Deems......... Vocal. .30 Bessie Who Lives in the Glade. Geo. W. Persley.... .40 RECENT FOREIGN PUBLICATIONS. Present rate of Importation, 33 c., gold, per Franc. Daniel, J. F. Analectes littéraires et scientifiques. Nouvelles étymologiques. In-8°. (Saint-Brieuc.) Fontaine, H. Description des machines les plus remarquables et les plus nouvelles à l'Exposition de Vienne en 1873. In-8°, xvi-496 p. et atlas de 60 pls. Baudry. Gobin, Jeunesse, Kæppelin et Pieraggi. L'Art de peindre la parole. Etudes sur l'imprimerie, la librairie, les cartes et globes, la fonderie en caractères, la stéréotypie, la polytypie, Ta lithographie, la gravure sur bois, sur cuivre. sur pierre, etc; par MM. H. Gobin, A. Jeunesse, D. Kæppelin et E. LaPieraggi. In-8°, 164 p. et 31 fig. dans le texte. mans...... ENGLAND. Present rate of Importation, about 50 c. per shilling. Anderson, J. The New Practical Gardener and Modern Horticu.turist. Roy. 8°. Mackenzie.... .....428. Busk, R. H. The Folk-Lore of Rome. Post 8°. Long.......12s. 6d. Cunningham. J. A New Theory of Knowing and Known. Post 8. (Edinburgh, Black.) Longmans............55. Lamb. Mary and Charles. Poems, Letters, and Remains, now first collected; with Reminiscences and Notes by W. C. Hazlitt. Post 8°. Chatto & W..........10s. 6d. Nasmyth, J., and J. Carpenter. The Moon. 4. Murray. umns. Not in a Day. 30s. "THE world was not made in a day," says the proverb, and it is only at the last trump that we are to be changed "in the twinkling of an eye." Otherwise, human nature possesses considerable inertia, and any reform is a question of time. This is what we have to say both to the letter of Messrs. E. P. Dutton & Co. and to the last point 'made by Mr. Leavitt, in our correspondence colAs to the book there spoken of, the price of the English edition is $1.25, or to the trade 75 cents; of the American $1, or to the trade 67 cents. It is certainly a very handsome book, well worth the money, that the American publishers offer, and it is quite certain that at this rate of discount there is likely to be no "cutting under." We trust the book will be supported by the retail trade accordingly. On the other hand, nobody expects, and we last of all, that the millennium is coming in a day. Under the most thorough spread of the proper policy among retailers that can po-sibly be looked for, there will still remain for some time those who can't see further than the resent shilling, and who will still clamor for the Smith. J. N. On the Science of Sensibility (Intelligence) Post 8°. Trübner........... ......78. 6d. Tolstoy, Count D. Romanism in Russia. Transl. by Mrs. M'Kibbin. 2 v. Post 8°. Hayes.............. 155. Vambery, A. Central Asia and the Anglo-Russian Fron tier Question. Transl. by F. E Buunett. Post 8°. Smith & E... ....78. 6d. Waddington, J. Congregational History (1567-1700) in Relation to Contemporaneous Events, etc. 8°. Longmans. Walter, Jas. Shakespeare's Home and Rural Life. With Heliotype Illustrations. 4. Longmans.........52s. 6d. Yelverton, Thérèse. Teresina Peregrina; or, Fifty Thousand Miles of Travel Round the World. 8. Bentley.... Wi manns, W. Die Entwickelung der Kudrundichtung untersucht. gr. 8. Halle, Buchh. d. Waisenh.....2 Th. Kerpcly, A. Das Eisen auf der Wiener Weltausstellung 1873. gr. 8. Schemnitz, Joerges..... ....3 Th. Külz, Dr. Ed. Beiträge zur Pathologie u. Therapie d. Diabetes mellitus. gr. 8. Marburg, Elwert....a Th. 10 gr. Knapp, G F. Theorie d. Bevölkerungswechsels. gr. 8. Braunschweig, Vieweg & Sohn. .......1 Th 10 gr. Förstem inn, E. Geschichte d. d utschen Sprachstammes. 1. Bd. gr. 8. Nordhausen, Förstemann.....4 Th. Gregorovius, F. Wanderjahre in Italien. 8. Leipzig, Brockhaus.. . I. u. 2. Bd. ..à 2 Th. larger discount. No great improvement of this sort ever was brought about without temporary inconvenience, indeed, temporary loss; but we must call on the retailers to do their best, and to publishers to be patient in the surety that the reform means money in the end. We also agree to some extent with Mr. Leavitt, that there will be sufficient grumbling on the part of such short-sighted retailers, so as to make it temporarily The retail trade has to be educated to the need of reform, as well as the publishers convinced as to its expediency. But in the end everybody will be the gainer, and the little friction and loss that must come temporarily in any such change will be thrown out of sight by the great accruing benefits that come afterward. "difficult to sell books" to them. The British Reference Catalogue. OUR arrangements with Mr Whittaker for the agency of his REFERENCE CATALOGUE having been completed, we beg to call attention to the following points: 2. Subscriptions must be sent to this office, where they will be entered in the order of receipt. 3. The price of subscription, per copy, is $1.50, payable in advance. To give a more definite idea of the plan of the enterprise, we reprint the following notice from the London Bookseller: 1. Only 250 copies will be received for this | into the West as we had supposed, but they country. help to show how a large quantity of books is thrown below price into the great centres, and the country orders attracted thither by the underselling that incontrovertible facts prove directly follows these sales, so that the country trade is thus deprived of its reasonable chance, to the hurt of all concerned. In our view, the trade sales are like a drop of ferment in a huge mass, which becomes soured by the spread of its results. We agree with the Messrs. Leavitt in the severest reprobation of underselling by agents. It is scarcely necessary to state that our face has always been firmly set against all causes of demoralization in the trade, as one of which we have argued against the trade sale The other point made by the Messrs. Leavitt is referred to above. A great and not altogether unreasonable outcry has been raised as to the want of information respecting modern books. It is said if we want to know about Burmann's “Ovid” or Hamilton's "Vases," the sizes and other particulars may be more readily obtained than that of the number of volumes, size, and price of the recent editions of Dickens, Thackeray, Mommsen's "Rome," Grote's "Greece," or Freeman's "Norman Conquest," while it is next to impossible to learn all that one wants to know about Rawlinson's "Ancient Monarchies" and its continuations or supplements. This is, perhaps, an exaggeration, nevertheless there is some truth in it. Turning to the English Catalogue for such a book as South's Sermons, Oxford edition, we find it published in 1842 at 50s. 6d., but on inquiry may find that the price has been considerably reduced, although no record of it is to be found in any catalogue at hand. This is the real difficulty; the catalogue we want is never forthcoming just at the precise moment, and a bookseller who quoted South at the full price might be set down as one who attempted to cheat, or as one grossly ignorant of his business. Own It might be supposed there was a plethora of quarto family Bibles in the market, especially among the subscription houses. It seems, however, as if the subscription publishers were eternally playing an extensive game of follow my leader, for no sooner does one house issue a moderately successful book than a dozen others follow in its wake. with books of an exactly similar kind. Two or three years ago books of a semimedical character were the fashion, and following the lead of a Philadelphia house, at least twenty, all bearing a strong family likeness, were issued by as many different publishers. Just now illustrated family Bibles seem to be the rage, ponderous articles of parlor furniture, eminent for their imposing exterior and utter uselessness. amount of good morocco spoiled in their bindings is horrible to think of-covers at least an inch thick, In order to remedy this, our American brethren have set us the example of collecting and binding in one volume the catalogues of all publishers from every part of the Union. These form a most useful volume for the bookseller's reference; but, unfortunately, owing to the introduction of some catalogues with trade prices, the usefulness of the "Uniform Trade List Annual," published by Mr. Leypoldt, of New York, is confined to booksellers alone. about to improve upon this, and, in the "Reference Catalogue of Current Literature," have a volume which the bookseller and his customer may both use. Nearly all the pub lishers in the United Kingdom have agreed to print catalogues of the books they have in print all uniform in size. These, when bound, will make a volume as thick as the Lon-bevelled, and gilded, and stamped until every natu We are now doa Directory. The volume will be furnished with indices, to facilitate reference, so that the bookseller may either turn to what is required or place it before the bookbuyer. It frequently happens that a customer is undecided in his choice, or really has no knowledge of the books he wishes to present or purchase; he may then take the catalogue home to select at leisure, or consult some friend. In a variety of ways the usefulness of such a catalogue will suggest itself to the bookseller's mind, and there can be little doubt that the number of copies provided will soon be exhausted. OUR readers will find in the correspondence columns a letter from the Messrs. Leavitt, to which it is only right we should call especial attention. Our statement as to "Common Sense in the Household was based on the best of evidence, the specific declaration of a well-known house to the effect of our statement; it is no doubt true that the circulation in the newspapers and among the trade of this exceptional sale advertised the book widely and so helped it, but this instance is altogether exceptional, and its like had not happened before for years. The figures of Western buying at the late sale show that at that sale not so much "dead stock" was thrown The ral beauty of the leather is effaced. These solid cubes of ugliness are being sold by the ton, as it was discovered not long ago that at least one house was making money by such a venture. The fashion was started, and big Bibles became the pets of the hour. The latest of these is from Hubbard & Bros., Philadelphia. So far as paper and print are concerned, little fault can be found, but the wonder is how so many of these Bibles can find a sale. Scribner, ARMSTRONG & Co. make the important announcement that Mr. William Cullen Bryant, assisted by Mr. Sidney Howard Gay, has in preparation a "Popular History of the United States. The work is to begin with the earliest authentic history of the Western Continentthough not ignoring the earlier mythical periodand to come down to the close of the first century of American independence. It will require not less than three volumes, and is to be profusely and largely illustrated from original designs. It is to be a full, exhaustive, popular history of our country, corresponding, we presume, to Knight's History of England; and its picturesque and artistic featu es make it doubly interesting to the Ame ican public. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. The interests of the trade cannot be better served than by a full discussion by its members of all questions which affect it. Our columns are always open to communications on any such subject, provided they be brief and suggestive, and we cordially invite the trade to express any suggestions or opinions of interest or value in" Letters to the Editor." The Trade Sale-From Messrs. Leavitt. NEW YORK, Feb., 1874. To the Editor of the Publishers' Weekly. DEAK SIR: The editorial in your issue of Jan. 31 states that you had sent to our office "to give opportunity for reply," etc., but that up to the time of going to press nothing had been received, owing to the absence from the city of one of our house. Had we been here we should have requested a correction of your statement respecting the sale of the 5,000 "Common Sense," which, with the exception of the fact that 5,000 copies were sold in one lot, is entirely incorrect. The publishers also inform us that, notwithstanding the sale of 5,000, their own sales of this book have been nearly, if not quite as large as heretofore, thus nearly doubling their sales, and that the demand now is as great as ever. In reply to the allegations that the book business is demoralized, and that a "leading cause" of this supposed demoralization is the trade sales, as well as to aid in your efforts to restore the trade to a respectable standing and a sound basis, we append a list of all the towns in the far West to which we sold books at one of the largest sales ever held, that of September, 1873, with the amounts sold to each. A grand total of twelve hundred and sixty-nine dollars; and if it will be of any further service we will, for your next issue, furnish a list of the items constituting the above amounts, quantities, and prices paid. Looking over the list of committees appointed by the late convention," we observe the name of but one bookseller who has ever bought a book at trade sales, and he to the limited amount of less than $200 at the last sale. The next trade sale will commence on Tuesday morning, March 24, to which we cordially invite the trade, booksellers and publishers, especially those who have never before been present. We remain, very respectfully, GEO. A. LEAVITT & Co. P. S.-It just occurs to us that there is one point in the matter of "demoralization" which we have not seen mentioned by yourselves or any of your correspondents or contempor.ries. It is, the travelling agents who throng the West. Where we reach 5 towns, they reach 500 or 1,000, and sometimes half-a-dozen agents in a town at once, who, from competition, sell their books at discounts of fifty and sixty per cent., thereby not only demoralizing the retail trade, but also to a very great extent demoralizing the jobbing trade and damaging and seriously interfering with the business of the trade generally. If the demand for smaller discounts should be carried into effect, this evil would in a great degree be remedied, but the other effect will be, that at least one-half of the publishers will find it very difficult to sell their books, and their business much curtailed and crippled. In the Right Direction -Will it Pay? To the Editor of the Publishers' Weekly. We have issued this book, in conformity with the suggestions of the booksellers' convention at Cincinnati, at the low price of $1 retail, and offer the trade a discount of one-third-yet the first cry that we get is, "We won't buy unless you make it 40 per cent." Now let any persons acquainted with the cost of book-making examine this volume, and they will readily see that there is no money to be made on it at our price, unless a very large number are sold. We have such faith in the book that we believe that it will meet with a large sale; and having issued it as we state, many booksellers refuse to touch it, because the English edition, although with a higher retail price, has been bought at 40 per cent. Is it not to our interest, let us ask, to issue the book at $1 25, and then sell at 40 per cent ? yet this is just what the convention complained of. At all events, we try the experiment on this book, and wait to see how far the trade will go towards supporting their own recommendations, as in the 4th Article of their resolutions. Yours truly, E. P. DUTTON & Co. The Question of Library Prices. To the Editor of the Publishers' Weekly. DEAR SIR-In the large amount of correspondence that has appeared in your columns relative to the vexed question of discounts to the trade and to book buyers it would appear as if every branch of the subject must have received attention. There is one point, however, to which, it appears to me, due consideration has not been given in the discussion-namely, the position and requirements of libraries Trade Union are so excellent in their aims, and The reforms proposed by the American Book the evils they assail are such serious ones, that it is of essential importance that the measures pro posed should be both correct and logical in principle and practicable in execution. One of the recommendations of the Union is that "no discount from retail prices be made to any persons outside of the regular trade." This is, I believe, so sweeping that it is both erroneous in principle and impracticable to carry out. The Union does not, of course, include in its list of the "regular trade" circulating libraries. But these really buy books to sell again, although their methods of sale are different from those of the bookseller. The Mercantile Library of New York is practically a dealer in books-when it buys 500 copies of a new novel, sells the use of these to its customers, and finally, when the first demand has gone by, sells 490 of the half worn-out copies to poorer |