. Pap. .25 Harvard Univ. Cata., 1873-4. 75 c.; pap. .50 Almanacs, World Almanac, 1874.. ANNOUNCEMENTS OF FORTHCOMING PUBLICATIONS. Scribner, Armstrong & Co.:-Sahara and Lapland, by Count Coblet D' Alviella-The College Life of Maitre Nablot, by Erckmann-Chatrian.-Arlon Grange.—Darwinism and Design.-La Mythologie du Rhin et les Contes de la Mère Grand, translated from the French of X. B. Saintine, with illustrations by Doré. Le Roi des Montagnes, translated from the French of Edmund About, with illustrations by Doré. Harper & Bros.:-In the Dead of Night.-Recollections of a Rambler.-The College Life of Maitre Nablot.Humphrey Brothers, Shipowners.-The Sherlocks.--My Mother and I. JAN. 6. Henry Holt & Co.:-Mistress Judith.-Llanelly Reefs.Aunt Charlotte's Stories of English History for Children. JAN. 7. James R. Osgood & Co.:-Problems of Life and Mind, by G. H. Lewis. JAN. & Estes & Lauriat:- From advance sheets, Glena. an Italian Story, by N. L. Comyn.-Biographical and Criti cal Essays, by A. Hayward.-Adventures of an Attorney in Search of Practice.-Memoirs of Westminster Hall.-Discrepancies of the Bible, by John W. Holey, A.M.-Men of the Mayflower, and other Lectures, by W. Morley Punshon.-Murphy on Leviticus, Sunday School edition. James R. Osgood & Co.:-From advance sheets, Far from the Madding Crowd.-Literature and Dogma, new ed., with new Preface. JAN. 9. Henry Holt & Co.:-Which Shall It Be? by Mrs. Alexander, author of the "Wooing O't" (announced Sept. 26), a cheap ed.-Hawley Smart's Novels.-False Cards.Breezie Langton.-Spain and the Spaniards, by "Azanish Batuk."-Broken Bonds.-Sybil's Book. Harper & Bros.:-Sweet, not Lasting.-Frank Sinclair's JAN. 10. Broken J. B. Lippincott & Co.:-The Villages of the Bible, by E. Paxton Hovel.-Maiden May, by W. H. G. Kington. -Forster's Life of Dickens, Vol. III.-Borderland of Science, by R. Proctor.-The Honeymoon, by Count Pomar. JAN. 12. A. D. F. Randolph & Co.:-The Blue Ribbon, by the Scribner, Armstrong & Co.:-Sweet, not Lasting, by author of St. Olaves." Roberts Bros.:-Persis, by Rev. C. B. Tayler.-Harry's Big Boots. The Powder Monkey, by Dalton.Stumps.-The Unknown River, by Hamerton, cheaper edition.-Chapters on Animals, by Hamerton, cheaper edition.-The Sylvan Year, by Hamerton.-From January to December. Annie B. Lefurt.-Business, by a Merchant.- Recollections of a Rambler, by G. A. Simcox, M.A.-A History of Booksellers, by Henry Curwen. Anson D. F. Randolph & Co.:-Cautions for Doubters, by the Rev. J. H. Titcomb. Harper & Bros.:-Katty Lester.-Markham's History of Persia. Castle Daly. -Far from the Madding Crowd. RECENT FOREIGN PUBLICATIONS ENGLAND. Present rate of Importation, about 50 c. per shilling. Baker, H. B. French Society, from the Fronde to the Great Revolution. 2 vols., post 8°. Bentley.........215. Barnes, R. A Clinical History of the Medical and Surgical Diseases of Women. 8°. Churchill.... ........28s. Bickersteth, E. H. The Reef, and other Parables. Illustr. Square 16°. Low..... 7s. 6d. Blue (The) Ribbon. By the author of " St. Olave's." 3 vols. post 8°. Hurst & B.. ......31s. 6d. Bowles, Emily. In the Camargue. Post 8°. Smith & E. 7s. 6d. Gilmore, J. Storm Warriors; or, Lifeboat Work on the Goodwin Sands. Post 8°. Macmillan... ...6s. Guthrie, Thomas. Autobiography, and Memoir by his Sons. Rev. David K. Guthrie and Charles J. Guthrie. 2 vols., post 8°. Isbister...... ......10s. 6d. | Langford, J. A. Modern Birmingham and its Institutions. Vol. 8. (Birmingham.) Simpkin....... Lumby, J. R. The History of the Creeds: Ante-Nicene, Nicene, and Constantinopolitan, the Apostolic Creed, the Quicunque. Post 8°. Bell & S.... ..7s. 6d. Maughan, Wm. C. The Alps of Arabia. Travels in Egypt, Sinai, Arabia, and the Holy Land. 8. H. S. King. 12s. New, C. L'fe, Wanderings, and Labors in Eastern Africa. Illustr. Post 8". Hodder & S... .......Ios. 6d. Ribot, Th. English Psychology. From the French. Post 8. H. S. King....... Somerville, Mary. Personal Recollections, from Early Life to Old Age; with Selections from her Correspondence. By her Daughter, Martha Somerville. Post 8. Murray..12s. Stephen, L. Essays on Free-thinking and Plain-speaking, Post 8vo. Longmans... Vincent, F. The Land of the White Elephant Sight and Scenes in Southeastern Asia, embracing the countries of Burmah, Siam, Cambodia, and Cochin-China (1871 2). .18s. Illustr. 8°. Low.... Whitworth, Sir J. Guns and Steel. Roy. 8°. Long...7s. 6d. mans.... FRANCE Present rate of Importation, 33 c., gold, per Franc. Beaune, A. Voltaire au collége, sa famille, ses études, se premiers amis. Lettres and documents inédits. In-8° CLXXXVII-147 p. Amyot. Bonhomme, H. Louis XV. et sa famille, d'après des lettres et des documents inédits. In-18 jés. Dentu...3 fr. Cherville, le marquis de. L'Histoire naturelle en action. Contes, récits et aventures. Gr. in-8°, 395 P. Paris, Etude historique et clinique sur les amputations sousperiostées et de leur traitement par l'immobilisation du membre et du moignon. In-8°. Baillière et fils......6 fr. Hughes, R. Action des médicaments homeopatiques, ou E éments de pharmacodynamique. Trad. de l'anglais et annoté par J. Guérin-Méneville. In-18 jés. Baillière et fils..... .......6 fr. Keller, E. La général de Lamoricière, sa vie militaire, | Marchal, O. L'Atlas du meunier et du constructeur de Cours de mécanique appliquée aux machines. Publié par M. Kretz. In-8°, xx11-520 p. et 2 pl. Gauthier-Villars. Puymaigre, le comte de. La Cour littéraire de Don Tours. Mame et fils. With, E. L'Ecorce terrestre. Les Minéraux, leur histoire et leurs usages dans les arts et métiers. In-8°. Plon. 13 fr. GERMANY. Present rate of Importation, $1.10 gold, per Thaler, à 30 gr. Kübel, R. Das christliche Lehrsystem nach der heiligen Brachelli, H. F. u. F. Migerka. Oesterreichs com- Baeyer, J. J. Astronomische Bestimmungen f. die euro- 1866. ANNUAL SUMMARIES. NOTICE TO PUBLISHERS. ..2 Th. The Editor of the "Publishers' Weekly" begs to call the attention of publishers to the advantage of having their advertisements, at the beginning of the new year, prepared in the form of Complete Lists of their Publications issued during the past year. The utility of such lists has already been recognized by the ieading houses, and the facilities they afford to the dealer in taking and renewing stock, make it desirable that this practice should become a custom. It is an advantage both for publisher and dealer, that, in replacing stock and making out orders, the latter should be in the possession of the Special Lists of the publishers from whom he orders. It will save him time and trouble, and will generally induce him to send fuller ord rs, on detecting at a glance the deficiencics of his stock. The want for such Lists will be more particularly felt this year, as no General Annual Catalogue will appear before August or September. The Annual Reference List will hereafter be embodied in the Uniform Trade List Annual, which really is its proper place. It will, in the forthcoming volume, embrace the books recorded and advertised in the "Publishers' Weekly" from January 18, 1873, to July 1, 1874, supplementary to the preceding Annual Lists, and after that record the books from July to July. The numbers of the "Publishers' Weekly" of January 17, 24 and 31, which will have an extra circulation, are specially recommended for the advertisements of Publishers' Annual Summaries. WHEN everything within and around is reduced to order, the new establishment of James R. Osgood & Co., on the corner of Franklin and Federal streets, will be one of the pleasantest places in Boston, or anywhere else. The whole region will have been reconstructed, saved so as by fire from even a suspicion of narrowness and exclusiveness, and the new store in particular will be the abode of broad hospitality and sunshiny good feeling. The publishing business has a quarter more space than it had in Tremont street, and there is an immense heliotype room besides. The salesroom is particularly inviting, being set with magnificent plate-glass windows on both sides, and as light and airy as a spring day. Upstairs are cosy offices, and down-stairs the storage vaults, ample enough to hold the $300,000 worth of stock. So, seeing that the world moves and changes are inevitable, we do not know that this translation can long be regretted. What Not to Do. IT is not the least of the difficulties in the way of practical, effective action by any large deliberative body, that so much time is apt to be wasted over inconsequent matters. The national Congress itself is the shining example of this difficulty, which is enhanced when a convention is temporary, made up of men who have not before come together, and in which subjects are to be acted on whose scope is ill-defined. For in the case of a meeting of this sort, if one or two days' time is wasted in really getting to work, nothing can be done, and the whole time of every member is wasted-for there is but one or two days' time, all toid. For this reason a few bits of negative advice to the organizers of the coming book trade convention may perhaps be useful. And first, let us say, that if the convention proceeds in the spirit of the letter from Secretary Gunn, printed in our columns elsewhere, one danger is at once obviated. There has been talk of an organized opposition among the retailers to influence publishers by tabooing the books of those who should refuse to enter into an agreement against underselling. It would be most unwise, from any point of view, for a dealer to decline to keep in stock the books of any house whose books are worth having, though a discrimination might rightfully be made by pushing' the books of houses that protected their trade customers by up 66 right dealing, and letting the books of others run themselves. But even this, in the present state of things, would be wrongful, unnecessary, unwise, and injurious. The trade, from retailer up to the largest publisher, is now becoming thoroughly convinced that its interests are one, and that what hurts the retailer reacts with still greater force upon the publisher. Therefore, we look to the convention not to act in opposition to, but nomi tion, and consists in doing away with the factitious elements of the trade, the big nominal discounts, which tempt many outsiders into it. We may add that the subscription book business cannot effectually be attacked as a trade. Resolutions will not stop it, although we look to see the houses of the regular trade ultimately convinced, by the sound argument of the case, that they are doing permanent harm to themselves by subscription departments." The only way to overcome this difficulty is by vitalizing the regular trade through reform of its other evils and then putting down the mass of subscription book business by competition. The regular bookseller has always certain advantages that, rightfully used, will give him the custom that now the "agent" runs away with. The organization of the convention and its rules of action must be such as to provide against time being wasted in too long speeches and wordy and irrelevant discussions. This is a most important point to look forward to. What the convention does do will depend fundamentally upon what it does not do. THE heading of the blanks for subscriptions toward the proposed Finding List make 20 per cent. of the respective amounts payable when not misunderstanding having arisen concerning the less than $5,000 shall have been subscribed. Some justified in commencing the work until the 600 subscribers at $25, or their equivalent, are obtained (unless more detailed estimates should show the probable cost of the work to be less than call in no subscriptions, nor percentage of any, we now suppose), and that of course we mean to until we feel assured of pushing through the work to a final success. matter, we desire to state that we do not feel THE demand for copies of the number contain nally as well as actually in the interests of, the pub-ing the documents of the forthcoming convention lishers. Our conversation with leading houses of our own city has convinced us that they are most willing to take part in any promising movement of reform. The laws of political economy are not always popular, but they are rigid. The convention must not wreck itself in useless opposition to what cannot be helped. And in particular, any time will be wasted in discussion or action looking toward making the trade a close and limited organization. No matter if every bookseller in a given place enter into combination and agree not to undersell-in itself a good thing—this is not an effective way of meeting the difficulty. It would be un-American to attempt, and it would be impossible to succeed in an attempt, to prevent any man who wants to do so from selling books, and even from underselling. This unavoidable difficulty must always be kept in mind; the only remedy is from the other direc has been so great that our supply is exhausted. We shall reprint them, therefore, in our next issue, which will be largely circulated in special directions, and of which a reserve quantity will be printed. WE call attention to the annual summaries of publishers, now being given in our advertising columns. Booksellers will find these complete lists of the publications of last year exceedingly valuable, as supplementing the "Uniform Trade List Annual," and we beg to notify publishers that it is desirable to have all the lists included within the January numbers. IT is stated that Miss Helen Taylor has decided to hold back the volume of " Posthumous Essays' of John Stuart Mill, until at least the end of the year. The Booksellers' Protective Union. SPRINGFIELD, O., Jan. 8, 18-4. To Booksellers. DEAR SIRS: The next meeting of the Booksellers' Protective Union has been postponed to Thursday, Feb. 12th, 1874. From the various publishers, jobbers, and booksellers, the responses to the sentiments of the Association have been so hearty that we confidently expect speedy success. No opposition whatever has manifested itself thus far. The conviction is general that a reform must be brought about that will give dealers of each class a reasonable profit, and do away with the irregularities and grievances in the trade which are a constant source of loss to every man in the book business. Our meeting in February is for a full discussion of all the interests of the trade not to array one branch of the trade against anothOur interests as publishers, jobbers, and booksellers are mutual, and several leading publishers have most emphatically sanctioned the action of the Association. We believe this convention will be a general convention of the trade, and we here give again an urgent invitation to pub lishers, jobbers, and booksellers to be at the Burnet House, in Cincinnati, Thursday, Feb. 12th, 1874. And we repeat, also, the request for letters giving the views and suggestions of members of each branch of the trade who may be unable to attend the meeting. er. J. W. GUNN, Secretary and Chairman of Executive Committee. OMAHA, NEB., January 2, 1874. To the Editor of the Publishers' Weekly. DEAR SIR: After a somewhat lengthy illness I am about again, and reading up the accumulated numbers of the WEEKLY. I am very sorry that you had to give up the 32m0 list of the poets. It is a shame and disgrace on the part of the retail trade-no matter how much the publishers may be at fault-that such efforts in their behalf are not ap reciated. It is some encouragement to notice the slow progress toward obtaining that desideratum, the Finding List. You say (page 666): "An amount not exceeding 20 per cent. of each subscription to be payable when the fund shall have reached an amount not less than five thousand dollars"-20 per cent. of $5,000 is $1,000. Do you feel safe in beginning the undertaking on a working fund of that amount? It seems entirely too small. The Trade List Annual" after long delayno fault of yours, however-has also arrived. I need not say that I am pleased with it. I find occasion to refer to it so often, that a facetious customer, noticing my hesitancy in answering a question relating to some book, said, "Go get your Booksellers' Bible." I have a tradesman's love for a good bargain, but when I turn the leaves of the bulky volume, my conscience won't let me chuckle over this one as I ought. So to make things more even I inclose a postal order for five dollars, which please credit to the profit or loss (?) account of this enterprise of yours for the benefit of our trade. Indeed, Mr. Leypoidt, I feel, under continued obligations to you, for your publications have had much to do with stimulating my interest in and aiding me in acquiring a knowledge of the book business. I am often called an enthusiast in regard to bookselling, and certainly I am, if believing it to be a "high calling earns that title. I believe the book business can be placed on a much broader, more liberal, and less mercenary basis than it now has. No one can know better than yourself how much room there is for improvement in the present mode of conducting it; and as I am a young member of the trade, I have some hopes of living to see the much needed changes brought about. I wish you a "Happy New Year." L. THORVEL Solberg. The Christmas Trade and the Weekly. MIDDLETOWN, N. Y., Dec. 31, 1873. To the Editor of the Publishers' Weekly. BELIEVING, as we do, that he who profits by the wisdom and advice of another incurs a debt which, in a moral point of view, he is under as great obligation to cancel as one of inere dollars and cents, we desire to acknowledge our indebtedness to you for your timely suggestions to booksellers regarding their preparation for the holiday trade. Your views respecting the prospect of books taking precedence this season of the more expensive articles of jewelry, dress goods, etc., usually given, so harmonized with our own, and so strengthened our faith therein, that we decided to furnish our tables with a good supply of the latest and best publications, taking the precaution to select only such as would be salable at any time should the predictions of faint-hearted croakers be realized. The result has not only proved eminently satisfactory to us pecuniarily (our sales being about one-third larger than last year), but it has likewise furnished us with additional evidence of the value of your journal to all who are so wise as to have secured its weekly visitations. We send herewith the amount for renewal of our subscription, and with it the hope that your efforts to promote the interests of both publisher and retail dealer may meet with the success they so richly merit. Very truly, S. R. MORGAN & Co. BOOKS RECEIVED. GOOD LUCK, by Paul Cobden. (Lee & Shepard.) The new volume of the "Beckoning Series." An encouraging story for poor boys, and a very entertaining one for all boys. The moral of it is, don't wait for good luck, but go with wiling heart and hand in search of it. Christy Speers, the hero, is quite a model boy in his way, and meets with many kind friends and many strange adventures in his chase after fortune. Illustrated, 16mo, cloth, $1.25. THE LIVES OF THE CHIEF JUSTICES OF ENGLAND, by Lord Campbell. (Éstes & Lauriat.) The facts are given in plain,unvarnished language, having been gathered together chiefly for the use, of the lawyer; still they afford very absorbing entertainment to the general reader. They are introduced by a learned essay on "The Theory of Presumptive Proof," by S. N. Phillips. 8vo, cloth, $2.25. LITERARY AND TRADE NEWS. THE important revision of the "United States Digest," to which we have before referred, undertaken by Messrs. Little, Brown & Co., involves not only an immense outlay of capital, but a very considerable sacrifice of it. Twelve volumes are to be made out of thirty-one, all in stereotype plates, which must be destroyed, averaging 750 pages each. The same style of page and type will be followed, and the volumes be in royal 8vo, sheep, $7.50 per vol. The digest is to be made by Mr. Benj. Vaughan Abbott, whose reputation places him in the first rank of the makers of di PRIMITIVE CULTURE, by Edward B. Tylor. (Henry Holt & Co.) Researches into the devel-gests, and the first series, which extends to 1870, opment of Mythology, Philosophy, Religion, Language, Art, and Customs. The present volumes are uniform with the author's previous work of "Researches into the Early History of Mankind," and carry on with a full array of facts the discussion of "the doctrine of survival in culture; the bearing of directly expressive language and the invention of numerals on the problem of early civilization; the place of myth in the primitive history of the human mind; the development of the animistic philosophy of religion, and the origin of rites and ceremonies." 2 vols. 8vo, cloth, $5.00. THE HEALING WATERS OF ISRAEL, by J. R. Macduff, D.D. (Robert Carter & Bros.) The story of "Naaman, the Captain of the host of the King of Syria," is the groundwork of this little devotional work. As the Old Testament tells us, "Naaman was a great man with his master; he was also a mighty man of valor, but he was a leper." How Naaman suffered and rebelled, and how his restoration was brought about by the waters of the Jordan, is all made the means for most profitable "instruction in righteousness." 16mo, cloth, $1.25. includes the decisions of the various courts of the United States from the earliest period to that date. The second series will continue the work in annual volumes thereafter. The revision and condensation includes the rearrangement of the whole matter under one alphabet, following substantially, though with improvements, the classifications of the old work, with full table of contents in the last volume. With the exception of decisions reversed, there will be no omission of cases, and several volumes of reports not before included will now be added, making in all 1900 volumes "boiled down" into the present work. The first volume will be issued immediately, the others to follow quarterly. It is a work for which the legal profession must be immensely grateful. THE Osgoods are about to publish a "Life of Mrs. Barbauld, with Selections from Her Works," by Mrs. Grace A. Ellis. The biography should be a meet companion to the several delightful memoirs that have recently been presented, since Mrs. Barbauld formed intimate friendships with three generations of scholars, and counted in her circle such as John Howard, the philanthropist; Dugald Stewart, Sir Walter Scott, Hannah More, Coleridge, Lamb, Wordsworth, and Maria Edge tiful, as it must have been to be in sympathy with the nobleness with which she was surrounded. With so much promise, the work will be looked for eagerly. LIBERTY AND LAW UNDER FEDERATIVE GOVERNMENT, by Britton A. Hill. (J. B. Lip-worth; since, too, her own life was pure and beaupincott & Co.) After thirty-five years of legal practice, Mr. Hill is convinced that the main danger to the permanence of our republican institutions lies in the deficiency and weakness of our State and Federal governments. He considers that the time is ripe for a thorough reorganization of these, and offers towards the accomplishment of this object the plans and outlines, embodied in this volume, of a more perfect form of government. In deprecation of what may be considered a somewhat bold task on his part, he states in his preface that the thought of this work has occupied the best part of his life, and led him to a careful study of civilizations, of hygiene, and past and contemporaneous history. 12mo, cloth, $1.50. FAMOUS CASES OF CIRCUMSTANTIAL EVIDENCE, by S. N. Phillips. (Estes & Lauriat.) That "truth is stranger than fiction" is fully verified by the facts contained in these famous cases. The unreliability of evidence which is based on presumptive proof is also manifested by the numerous murder cases of which it is related that through what was called the "strongest circumstantial evidence" innocent persons were proved guilty, and made the victims of the law. BALTIMORE has at last a complete history; written by Mr. J. Thomas Scharff. The author has collected and digested a great mass of scattered material, and evolved a unified history of the old town, with descriptions of its public buildings, societies, schools, railroads, post-roads, canals, newspapers, charities, and all the institutions and doings of its inhabitants, both in the quaint olden time and in this progressive day. The volume will be nearly as bulky as the city directory. A WORK of peculiar and excellent design has been completed by John W. Haley, A.M., entitled "The Discrepancies of the Bible." It is essentially a commentary on the hard places of Scripture, doctrinal, ethical, and historical, and will afford a ready means of studying up disputed points. The volume will contain an introduction by Prof. Hovey, of Newton Theological Seminary. W. F. Draper, Andover, Mass., has it in press. |