enacted. While this episode was vividly in the minds of Boston, Mr. Williams sold the business to Cupples and Upham. The Old Corner was still in these days the haunt of literary Boston. So long as Dr. Holmes lived he was to walk across the Common to seek what he called "that famous Corner bookstore." Parkman came frequently, and Motley, returned at last to Boston from his English mission, sat in the window and declared it to be the one natural spot left in Boston. It was the older writers, however, who still foregathered, for life was changing in Boston as elsewhere. It was a unique page of hisunique page of history which had been written, and tho there have been untold efforts to repeat it in Boston and in other parts of the country, it is doubtful if it ever will be repeated and any bookstore play quite the part in the life of a city which the Old Corner Book Store played in the life of Boston in the nineteenth century. In 1883 the name of the firm was Cupples, Upham and Co. In 1887 it was Damrell and Upham. After Mr. Damrell's death in 1896 Mr. Upham continued alone until the incorporation of the store in 1902. In 1903 it moved to 27 Bromfield Street at the corner of Province Court. This was the beginning of its transformation into the most modern of bookstores. In 1924 it moved into the present store at 50 Bromfield Street, and in 1927 the Branch store in the Hotel Statler building was opened. It is interesting to recall that at one time Winthrop Ames, the distinguished New York producer, held the majority of the stock of the Old Corner. About 1911 the Old Corner Book Store became the property of Richard F. Fuller and Joseph M. Jennings, who were to give it a new character and make it even more widely known than in its famous past. It is an interesting fact that after a century of bookselling "that famous Corner bookstore" is not only a landmark to be sought by visitors to Boston, but it counts its customers in the four quarters of the globe. To Bostonians it means much, but they are too close to appreciate wholly the tradition which attaches to it nor understand all that it means in the life of the country. T Bookshopping HE American Booksellers' Association offers for adoption a new slogan, "Bookshopping." The Bulletin of the Association in its current number, outlining plans for the Atlantic City Convention, puts out the idea that there is one preeminent service which a bookstore offers and which ought to be featured, that is: that no one has to buy books without examining the books and that there is a pleasure in visiting the aisles of a bookstore not to be obtained by catalog purchase, mailorder purchase or any other method of procuring books. "Bookshopping," as the Bulletin sets forth, "is the great indoor sport of millions of intelligent people all over the world." It is proposed that bookstores join together in an effort to put this single word slogan across, so that those who are enjoying this most delightful of recreations may have their pet diversion presented in public advertising and those who have not thought of the special delight which a bookstore offers might be led to try the experiment. It is an effort to dramatize a habit. The Publishers' Weekly, however, finds. itself somewhat in disagreement with the A. B. A.'s plan to organize a book club of its own in connection with this campaign, thus following the lead developed by the seven or eight other clubs. It is proposed to promote the sale of the books selected by a competent jury of booksellers on the counters of the stores and in the retail advertising of the stores, supplemented by national advertising to the extent that the funds allow. Our hesitation about this program is partly based on the idea that || it is better to keep these functions of book distributing separated. To encourage Bookshopping is the primary purpose of 1 national organization of booksellers, but do this by setting up a machinery so dif ferent from the present work of this national organization and so delicate of operation seems to us to offer embarrassments rather than aid. Second, it would seem very possible that the novelty has been pretty well worn off the idea. And even tho the choice of the jury of buyers is supplemented by the approval of some public personage, it is doubtful whether it can be made to seem dramatic in this day of many book clubs. Third, the financial responsibility of such a program is considerable, and a plan involving such substantial investments should not be adopted at a three days' session of the convention. Books would have to be bought from the publisher on credit and sold to retailers on credit, and the publishers would not give special discounts and also give long time credit as well. Fourth, there are important diplomatic difficulties in having two different relations with the publisher, as a member of a jury for a book club and as buyer for a retail store. Fifth, as the advertising must of neces sity be planned by a small group their task is not easy, and any statements must be considered in the light of the opinions of the trade as a whole. The Literary Guild has found that its cheapest method of getting orders is to attack the bookstores and their prices, and they have continued that kind of copy. If the A. B. A. should try to return in kind (and there must be some who feel like doing so by this time), there would be immediate objection by its members, who do not believe that such methods will in the end build permanent business. Finally, we are not as nervous as we might be about the state of bookselling growth. Unfair and unfortunate as the advertising of the Literary Guild has been. there has been a great headway gained by he cooperative work of booksellers over the ast twenty years and this headway is leadg to important developments thru coopertive advertising, bookselling education, and he clearing house, etc. All of these things re proving themselves business builders, nd they are bringing more people and more atisfied people to the bookstores every year. We believe, with the A. B. A. Bulletin, hat Bookshopping can be increased and its elights presented in cooperative publicity. We are not convinced, however, by one Bulletin that the way to do this is to start nother book club, and we believe the conention should look into the details of the rogram very carefully. The A. B. A. is feeling its way toward Heas that may mean more books sold by operative efforts. We have mistrusted the ays and means here provided but there s a sense of common cause evidenced, and ut of this discussion by one route or anther will come better American booklling. Recommends Publications to A Teachers VERY important list of books in the educational field is the list of volumes on teaching prepared annually end printed in the Journal of the National Education Association. Out of 450 pubications in the field of teaching and school administration, sixty were selected for the 927 list. These are classified into the lifferent fields of pedagogy. The work is lone under the direction of Joseph L. Wheeler, librarian of the Enoch Pratt Free Library, Baltimore. Booksellers can obtain reprints of this list with its valuble descriptive notes from the American Library Association at 15c. a copy. In connection with its publication, the editor of the Journal makes the following recommendations to teachers: "Buy books generously. Let your personal library be a growing, stimulating force in your life. Set aside a definite sum in your personal budget for this purpose. You will be surprised at the increase in your working effectiveness as you begin to read the wealth of new literature available each year. The cost is small as compared with the gain. Teachers who spend hundreds of dollars to attend school often hesi tate to spend even ten dollars a year on books. Both are important and should be kept in balance. When you are sure you are thru with a book pass it on to a friend, or to the public library where it will be put to good use. Think of a book as something to be consumed just as you do a theater ticket. Your library then comes to hold only the tried and tested volumes of the years or the newest ones that are in process of evaluation. The books around you are an extension of your mind. Just as man's development of weapons and tools has helped him to reach further and literally to remove mountains so books which are the tools of the mind multiply the power of our limited thought and experience." Fourth Avenue As a Publishing T Center A Quarter Century Shows Continued Growth HE Charles E. Merrill Company, then Maynard, Merrill and Co., was the pioneer of the now numerous publishing houses located on, or near, Fourth Avenue, New York. This company, in 1903, took one floor of a building at 44-60 East 23rd Street, at the corner of Fourth Avenue. Shortly afterwards, this district was chosen by two other publishing firms, John Wiley & Sons settled at 432 Fourth Avenue, while Funk & Wagnalls took two floors in the building already housing Merrill. These three carried on alone in the neighborhood until the arrival of the House of Stokes in January, 1906. Mr. Stokes leased the entire building, in order to acquire quarters in the old Tiffany Studios, on Fourth Avenue at 25th Street. This was considered a rather risky financial experiment at the time, but turned out to be a brilliant success, for all the floors were rented at a profit which enabled the Stokes firm to live in the old building rent free, with only minor anxieties. Under the weight of the heavy printing machinery, the floors began to sag so noticeably that Mr. Stokes never came in, in the morning, without an anxious glance skyward. At this time, the firm of Dodd, Mead & Co. with publishing and retailing occupied a corner building at Fifth Avenue and 35th Street, but when the building was bought by Best & Company, Dodd, Mead sold them the remainder of their lease and prepared to move. For a time a Publishers' Building was considered, Dodd, Mead and Stokes thinking of the advisability of together erecting a new building to suit their growing needs. Such a plan proved too difficult to work out. Fourth Avenue, where land was still comparatively cheap, but where there seemed to be promise of future development, looked very attractive, so that by 1910, the Dodd, Mead Co. had completed its own building at the corner of 30th Street. It was the first tall office building north of 18th Street, and was surrounded by old, brownstone houses, the first floors of which were used for small shops of a most unpretentious character. Antique furniture was the chief specialty of that quarter. Longmans, Green moved into the new Dodd, Mead building in February, 1910. Perhaps it was increased sagging of the floors which caused Mr. Stokes to change his office again in 1910. At any rate, in May we find Frederick A. Stokes & Co. occupying two entire floors in the Dodd, Mead Building. This seemed in fair way to become the Publishers' Building which had been discussed several years prior, for, with the arrival of Cupples & Leon in January, 1911, the number of publishing firms was four. Thomas Nelson & Sons moved into the Fourth Avenue Building at the corner of 27th Street when it first opened in 1910. The Dodd, Mead Building was not quite completed at that time. Ninteen thirteen brought a new addition, and the change of two companies to larger premises. Sully & Kleinteich, now George Sully & Co., first opened its doors to business in January at 373 Fourth Avenue. Charles E. Merrill moved to 432-438 Fourth Avenue, and Funk & Wagnalls took new quarters in a twenty-story building on the corner of Fourth Avenue and 26th Street, three blocks north of their former location. Early in 1914 the A. L. Burt Company moved from its location at 55-59 Duane Street to its newly leased offices at 115 East 23rd Street, near Fourth Avenue. The Publishers' Weekly of January 23, 1915, gives the following item of news: "The removal of the Century Company from Union Square to the Armory Building, Fourth Avenue between 25th and 26th Streets, is in the uptown advance which Fourth Avenue in 1908. Note the low buildings, the absence of automobiles and what the well-dressed men and women are wearing has been going on for some years among the publishers. After thirty-four years in Union Square it has joined the colony of publishers on Fourth Avenue." As the number of publishers in this district increased, other firms, contemplating moving to larger quarters, turned their first attention to this growing center on Fourth Avenue. A publishing center naturally has certain advantages. It is more convenient and more practical for the buyers making their rounds. In addition, publishing is very much tied up with its related business of advertising, printing and engraving. If you will analyze the location of most advertising firms, printers and engravers, you will find them not far from this part of town. After one hundred and six years at Franklin Square, Harper & Bros. established themselves in their new building at 49 East 33rd Street, "just around the corner" from Fourth Avenue but in the very center of the publishing district. In 1924, Thomas Y. Crowell Co. after a quarter of a century in downtown New York, no longer wished to be out of things, and so moved from the downtown manufacturing district up into the heart of publishing affairs at 393 Fourth Avenue. Judging from the numerous removals to larger offices of those early settlers, business had proved prosperous on the Avenue. After fourteen years at 449 Fourth Avenue, Cupples & Leon moved a bit farther north. The Scientific Book Corporation moved to its present address at 15 East 26th Street in December, 1925. In that same building are also the Ronald Press, and the Orange Judd Publishing Co. In 1926, after fourteen years in 44th Street, Henry Holt & Co. moved to 1 Park Avenue. Nineteen twenty-seven is marked by the arrival of the American Book Co. in their new building on the corner of Lexington Avenue and 26th Street. For the third time in as many years the J. H. Sears Company felt the need of larger quarters, so, in August, they installed themselves in a new building on East 32nd Street, the location being near Park Avenue and the other publishers. |