the Postmaster-General, having given this subject full consideration, the latter will address a letter to the Secretary of the Treasury, inclosing copies of the correspondence with foreign postal authorities, saying that he believes that the interpretation of the treaty given by the International Postal Bureau is the correct one, and that books subject to duties received through the mails, instead of being seized, ought to be returned to the countries from which they came. At the same time, he will suggest that, if possible, the Government of the United States adopt the same policy as that pursued by European governments, and interpret the law liberally, and allow books of small value to be received from foreign countries through the mails under such restrictions as will guard against frauds upon the revenue.

COMMUNICATIONS.

REGULATING PRICES: ANOTHER VIEW.
SEPTEMBER 26, 1877.

To the Editor of the Publishers' Weekly:
I have been an attentive reader of the cor-
respondence and editorial remarks that have
appeared in your journal and others belonging
to the book and stationery trades, for several
years past, regarding the conflict of interests
between the various branches of the trade,
especially the manufacturers, the jobbers, and
the retailers. The various efforts, through the
Boards of Trade, to harmonize these interests
were looked to with great hopes by thousands.
They all failed, as they ought to, and as any of
us having any knowledge of trade and of human
nature ought to have foreseen they would.
Regulating prices for large numbers of people
was of the nature of sumptuary laws. Even
absolute monarchies could not enforce them.
It was contrary to the whole genius of America.
The attempt in the insurance business has
proved equally a failure. It will prove a fail-
ure in all branches of business where there are
more than two persons interested.

Retail prices in the school-book business have been practically abandoned. We now buy our school-books as we do our letter-paper, put a profit on the cost, and each man fixes his own prices. This should be done likewise in the miscellaneous book business. And the trade must depend for its success upon something more stable than fancy prices from which

there are half a dozen discounts.

Not every small village or even large village will support a bookstore. It is idle for a bookmerchant to attempt to carry on a business when there is not demand enough for his goods to keep his stock moving. It is not true that it is for the interest of the publisher to bolster up such establishments. It is not true that it is for the interest of the manufacturer or the consumer to foster a trade that has not bottom enough to sustain itself. It is not true that the wholesale dealer owes his retail customer any consideration further than the courtesies of business require. The wrecks that have strewn the country for the past few years prove this, and have taught both jobbers and manufacturers the lesson; and if they keep it in sight for the future, it will be well for them.

All trade should be based upon the law of supply and demand. The retailer must have

his profit or go out of business. Let him claim it. Let it be reasonable, and he will be sustained. The under-cutter will follow the rule of all history. He will be the first to succumb. Let the jobber demand his reasonable profit. If there is a trade to support him, he will get it. If he is so situated that he knows the trade better than any one else, especially the more distant manufacturers, let him look with complacency on all endeavors of the drummer to take his trade. For each good man that he loses he will find another just beyond ready to step in. There are limits to the possibilities of drumming trade, and beyond these limits the provincial jobber may reach out. Manufacturers have learned to their cost that drumming in attenuated channels is not profitable.

There is another thing I wish to say, and that is, the hard times are not over yet; and when they are over, the recovery will be very gradual. The spirit of trade now causing so much cheerfulness in New York is not an avalanche nor has it body enough to carry business to New Year's. I do not observe that old and substantial houses are placing any faith in it. I do not see new books of any value announced by them. I do not see any energy in manufacturing, and I do not regard the effort to make appearances appear any better than they are as wise or to be commended.

Pardon me for trespassing so far on your space. SOUTH.

THE TRADE-LIST ANNUAL.

THIS ponderous volume is an acceptable one to us, as it is to all who are related to the book trade. Since the beginning of the series, five years ago, much progress has been made in the arrangement of the publishers' lists, which comprise its contents in the main; and other features of peculiar interest have been added in the issues of the past two or three years, which have enhanced the Annual's value.

In this edition the general lists are not only more complete, but a fresh element has been insellers and book-buyers, viz., the Reference List, troduced, which will be appreciated by all bookor American Catalogue.

The sketch of the Harper Brothers is a fitting testimonial to a great business firm and brotherhood, and finely illustrated by the superb steel portraits.-Phrenological Journal for Oct.

A WEIGHTY and extremely useful volume entitled The Publishers' Trade-list Annual, 1877, just issued from the office of the Publishers' Weekly, New York, is literally a book of books. It is edited, as the four preceding volumes were, by Mr. F. Leypoldt, and contains the catalogues of nearly all the American publishers (J. B. Lippincott's is the only one we miss), with an analytic reference list of all books produced in this country in the year ending on June 30th, 1877. Prefixed to it is a highly interesting sketch of the Harper Brothers, New York, with portraits, engraved on steel by F. Halpin, of the four energetic, able, genial, and straightforward gentlemen who formed that firm. Mr. Leypoldt must be credited with the original idea of this work, now indispensable to all dealers in, and a large class of readers of, books.--Philadelphia Press.

BOOK NOTICES. FORBIDDEN FRUIT, from the German of F. W. Hackländer, by Rosalie Kaufman. (Estes & L.) All the events of this romance take place within a few days. A young German officer, Eugene von Warring, has been left an income of ten thousand dollars on condition that he marries before his twenty-fifth year. But a couple of months intervene between his birthday when the story opens. He is on a visit to his sister, who determines to take the matter in hand and get him a wife. Thinking it the nature of man to ardently desire just what he cannot have, she pretends that a charming young girl she wants him to marry is affianced to another, or in other words is "forbidden fruit." However, the bait does not take except for a short time, the count suddenly falling in love with a young art student, who turns out to be a great lady. Hackländer paints German domestic life with a wonderful skill and freshness, giving to these simple incidents an unusual attractiveness. "Cobweb Series of Choice Fiction." 12mo, cloth, $1.50. VOCABULARY OF THE PHILOSOPHICAL SCIENCES, by Charles P. Krauth and William Fleming (Sheldon.) Under this title are included Fleming's vocabulary from the second edition of 1860 and the third edition of 1876, with the definitions of Dr. Calderwood, and Dr. Krauth's vocabulary, which is supplemental to Fleming and to the American editor's edition of Fleming. Dr. Krauth's contains additions to the chronology, bringing it down to June, 1877; the synthetical table is greatly enlarged, so as to cover completely the philosophical sciences in their classification, terminology, and history. Other additions have been brought into their proper place, so that the arrangement of the new volume, even after its great enlargement, is more simple and convenient than that of the old. It will be found an indispensible aid to the learner and a great convenience to the scholar. 12mo, cloth, $3.50. LECTURES ON PRACTICAL SURGERY, by H. H. Toland, M.D. (Lindsay & B.) These lectures, some fifty in number, relate to almost every kind of surgical operation. They were delivered before the students of the Toland College, previous to its incorporation with the University of California. The professor had been requested by the students to write a textbook, but his engagements were so numerous that he had to decline, but offered instead to talk a book that would contain the principles of surgery, with illustrations from his own experi The result will be found in this volume, a stenographer having made notes of the oral lectures. They have all the freshness and vigor of extemporaneous remarks and the directness of "talks." The work is very handsomely gotten up, with numerous illustrations. 8vo, cloth, $4.50; leather, $5.

ence.

FORENSIC MEDICINE AND TOXICOLOGY, by W. Bathurst Woodman, M.D., and Charles Meymott Tidy, M.B. F.C.S. (Lindsay & B.) This manual claims to be simply a comprehensive Medico-legal Handy-book. Although its subject is legal medicine, it deals with the medical rather than with the legal. The authors have felt that lawyers know the legal aspect of the subject better than physicians, whilst physicians know the medical better than lawyers. Recognizing, however, the existence of a part of the subject

belonging to both lawyer and physician but special to neither, they have ventured on this mid-territory, trusting that their medical view of the land in question may be found of service to those whose profession leads them to regard it primarily from a different point of view. The London Lancet, in reviewing it, says, The fact that the present volume is written by two authors, both of whom are most favorably known for the high quality of the work which they have already given to the world of science, would be strong primâ-facie evidence that this joint production would be something out of the common. The readers of the book will not be disappointed. It is as full of meat as an egg,' the information is sound, and the arrangement is good. Not only is the knowledge displayed of a high order, but the references to other works, which are thickly scattered throughout the volume, very greatly enhance its value. Nearly half the volume is assigned to Texicology, and this is probably the most thorough treatise on the subject in this or any other language." It is a very handsome work of over pages, containing 8 full-page chromo-lithographic plates and 115 other illustrations, and is of importance to dealers in both law and medical books. 8vo, cloth, $7.50; leather, medical or law style, $8.50.

1000

FIRST LESSONS In LATIN, by Elisha Jones. (Griggs & Co.) These lessons are intended as a practical drill-book for the beginner in Latin. They aim to make him familiar with the ordinary Latin inflections and the simpler principles of Latin syntax; to teach him as many words and expressions from Cæsar's Commentaries as he can learn with profit, and thus prepare him for the successful study of that book. The work is adapted to the Latin grammars of Allen & Greenough, Andrews & Stoddard, Bartholomew, Bullions & Morris, Gildersleeve, and Harkness, with any of which it can be used. The publishers claim that it is the "handsomest Latin book America has yet produced, and that the author's work merits the 12mo, cloth, $1.50.

dress.'

CARITÀ, by Mrs. Oliphant. (Harper.) This novel opens in very dramatic style. Mr. and Mrs. Beresford are a rich and loving couple with one child, Carità. Their lives have scarcely known a cloud when they first come upon the scene, and they have been married for more than a dozen years. All at once Mrs. Beresford seems to lose her strength in some mysterious way, and it is finally discovered that she is suffering from a loathsome and incurable disease. Her despair and agony are powerfully depicted, and her plea to her husband to give her something to put an end to her misery quite new in fiction. But her husband refuses, rushing from the room only to leave his wife to commit suicide by taking laudanum. The little daughter is the witness of the whole scene, hidden behind the curtain of the bed, her father of the suspicion which clings to him, and is the means, years afterwards, of clearing of having murdered his wife. Carità's love affairs form a most interesting portion of the narrative. The book is strongly written and more than readable. 8vo, paper, 50 cents.

THEO, by Mrs. F. H. Burnett. (Peterson.) Theo herself absorbs the entire interest in this story. It is her love story that is told and her adventures which fill the volume. It takes

one into a different strata of life from "That Lass o' Lowrie's," but is imbued with the same freshness, tenderness, and power which characterized that novel. Theo is a young English girl of poor but highly connected parents, who receives an invitation from her aunt, Lady Throckmorton, to visit her in London. There she meets her fate, and loves and is loved in return by a struggling literary man, who has been engaged for almost five years to a highminded, intellectual, but cold and impassive young woman. The usual struggle occurs, everybody behaving at their best, but Theo wins in the end, after much torture and agonizing suspense. The characters are all wonderfully lifelike, and are admirably pictured. The story bids fair to have a large sale, as it has every element of popularity. 12mo, cloth, $1; paper, 50 cents.

THE NEW SCHOOL MA'AM. (Loring.) Miss Mabel Frost, a fashionable New York girl, wearying of her useless life, obtains a situation to teach in the country for a summer at New Sparta, hoping to become happier under the new sensation of being of some use in the world. She conceals her real name and her wealth, and goes to work as much in earnest as if gaining her daily bread. Her experiences are very amusing, as are also the descriptions of the scenes in which she takes part, such as the examination, the donation party, etc. She finds a lover who, thinking her a poor girl,

loves her for herself alone, and to whom she plays the good fairy of the children's books. Altogether a bright, wholesome, and very pretty story. 16mo, paper, 50 cents.

DEVIL-PUZZLERS AND OTHER STUDIES, by F. B. Perkins. (Putnam.) The first study, "Devil-Puzzlers," is the story of a gentleman who for certain immunities agrees to sell himself to His Satanic Majesty. After a lapse of years the devil is to claim him for good and all, unless the party selling (Dr. Hicok) can give him three questions, one of which he (the devil) finds unanswerable. One day Mr. "Appolyon" walks in, and the doctor gets ready his questions. The devil answers the first and the second without any hesitation, and the doctor is in a great state of mind about the the third, when his wife walks in with her new spring bonnet perched upon her finger. She is made acquainted with the condition of affairs and begs to give the final conundrum, which is, Which is the front side of this?" pointing to her bonnet, which she twirls around. Of course Mephistopheles is nonplussed and vanquished, as any poor human creature of the male gender would have been under the same circumstances. The other studies are just as quaint, clever, and full of original ideas and bright writing, and a "prefatory chat," on writing and publishing, will be found of peculiar interest to all directly concerned with books. 16mo, paper, 50 cents.

SILVER WINGS AND GOLDEN SCALES; STORIES OF GIRLHOOD, by Mrs. Doudney; JUNGLE, PEAK, AND PLAIN, by Gordon Stables. (Cassell, Petter & G.) These three volumes are somewhat similar in get-up, all being profusely illustrated by very attractive wood-cuts and having bright bindings, with showy designs on the front cover. The first consists of stories of insects, told through the medium of conversation, and designed for the understanding of very young

children. It is the handsomest book of the three, the illustrations being very fine and on almost every page. The title of the second describes the volume; it is a collection of stories of girlhood, for young girls' reading. The third is a boy's book of adventures in the "Icy North and in Africa. 4to, cloth, $2.25. $1.50, $1.50.

STATIONERY NOTES.

We shall be glad to receive, for gratuitous notice, samples or brief descriptions of all novelties of general trade interest, of which small cuts will be inserted if furnished. Buyers ordering or making inquiry as to goods from the notices in our columns will confer a favor by mentioning the PUBLISHERS' WEEKLY as the source of their information.

A. HOPFENSACK, New York, has patented a handle fastening for pocket-books, travellingbags, satchels, and other articles of a similar nature, composed of a strip of metal provided with a crook and rivet-holes, and bent to form two jaws.

E. MORGAN, Springfield, Mass., has patented a wall pocket for holding stationery, in the shape of a box hinged at the bottom and attached to a board conveniently arranged to hang upon the wall. On both box and drop is a band running across the centre to prevent the paper and envelopes from falling out. is a cord and tassel attached to the back and

There

flap, preventing the latter from opening too wide. He has also patented a similar wall-pocket with bellows-gusset.

CHAMBERLIN, WHITMORE & Co. are making a new line of artistic novelties in silk, satin, and canvas goods, with ornamental painting by hand. They have also a new line of creamwhite ivory wedding goods, in extra thick papers. They are now making the new mossgreen tint in rough finish, which is very handsome; also a fine line of laundry lists in ladies', gentlemen's, and family styles, which are neat and useful. They have in preparation a fine line of novelties in papeteries for the holiday trade, which they hope soon to place on the market.

A. DOUGHERTY, New York, has just com pleted a very handsome lithographed show-card 16 by 20 inches, showing the suite and cour cards in a very tasty manner. They will be distributed with goods when ordered, or will be sent to parties keeping Dougherty's goods in stock. This house is also getting out some very handsome new designs for backs, among which the Dragon and Thistle are noticeable as unique.

WE are indebted to the Harrison Ink.Co., 9 Murray Street, New York, for sample bottles of their writing fluid and unchangeable carmine ink, which seem to possess all the merits of first-quality inks. Their inks have been in use since 1848. Their list contains many kinds and styles suitable for the trade.

PORTER & BAINBRIDGE, 33 Beekman Street, New York, have gotten out a new line of papeteries in handsome wood boxes, covered neatly and lined with puffed satin, containing one quire of extra superfine paper and envelopes to match, in royal note, royal letter, and the Kensizes. They will undoubtedly meet with a good demand from the trade.

LITERARY ANC TRADE NOTES.

OBITUARY.

JOHN DISTurnell.

ONE of the old, familiar faces of the trade

will be seen no more. Pleasant old John Disturnell, one of the walking curiosities of literature, died at the New York Hospital on Monday, October 1st, of congestion of the lungs. How many guide-books and omnium gatherums he had edited, and published, probably no one but himself, if he, ever knew.

He was born at Lansingburg, Rensselaer County, N. Y., on October 6th, 1801. He began life as a printer in Albany, but soon removed to this city, and opened a bookstore at No. 124 Broadway, and has ever since been more or less in business in New York. For some time, we believe, he was connected with the Evening Post. Mr. Disturnell was the compiler of the first railroad guide published in this country"The Traveller's Railroad Guide," printed by himself in 1840. For twenty years, or more, he published the “ United States Register, or Blue Book." Up to the time of his death, he was active and talkative, full of reminiscence, and full of ideas for publishing. The “ Association for the Advancement of Science and Art" recognized his ardent devotion to general progress by making him one of its Vice-Presidents. Mr. Disturnell was buried on Wednesday last.

PERSONAL NOTES.

PROF. R. B. ANDERSON, author of "Norse Mythology," will give a course of four lectures in the Peabody Institute, Baltimore, during the latter part of January and first part of February, 1878.

MR. JAMES T. FIELDS, says the Independent, is "almost the only American publisher who has ever devoted himself to the writing as well as the printing of polite literature. The only other publishers who have ever written at all, so far as we now remember, are Henry C. Carey and Henry C. Lea, of Philadelphia; Anson D. F. Randolph, of this city, whose volume of poems was issued by another house; John Bartlett, of Little, Brown & Co., the editor of "Familiar Quotations;" Dr. T. M. Brewer, of Brewer & Tileston, the ornithologist; George W. Carleton, of this city, who has produced humorous picture-books; and the late G. P. Putnam, who was a judicious editor. Mr. Fields' retirement from business has given him a chance to work in what seems to be his chosen field as lecturer and miscellaneous writer. Years ago, in common with so many natives of Portsmouth, Mr. Fields wrote poetry, in which he produced at least one very suc cessful piece of humor and one equally good bit of pathos. Latterly he has confined himself to prose, in the form of lectures and essays. Probably no living American, not even Longfellow or Lowell, has had so wide an acquaintance with the literary men of England, and Mr. Fields has preserved every scrap of interesting information or reminiscence that ever came under his eye. As a result, he is a most entertaining writer and one who has made a place for himself in our literature." The first paper in Mr. Fields' new book, "Underbrush, under the title of "My Friend's Library," describes Mr. Fields' own collection.

PROF. FRANCIS BOWEN'S recent work on "Modern Philosophy" (Scribner) has been introduced into Harvard as a text-book.

GAUTIER'S "Winter in Russia" and "Constantinople" have both been reduced by Henry Holt & Co. to $1.75. The old price was $2.

"THE CAPEL GIRLS" is the title of the new book by Edward Garrett, which Dodd, Mead & Co. will publish here.

A VOLUME on Money," by Gen. F. A. Walker, is to be published by Henry Holt & Co. His "Wages and the Wages Question" has had a successful sale.

THE trade will at any time do well to keep an eye on the "Home Cook Book," of which already 21,000 copies have been sold. Few books of its kind have had so steady a sale.

D. APPLETON & Co. have in rapid preparation a work on the practice of medicine, by Dr. R. Bartholow, whose "Materia Medica and Therapeutics" took the profession by storm last year and is now passing into a third edition.

on

"

PRES. JOHN BASCOM'S book this year will be Comparative Psychology, or the growth and grades of intelligence.' His later books are issued by G. P. Putnam's Sons, who find a steady sale for nearly all.

OF May Agnes Fleming's works, G. W. Carleton & Co. state that they have sold nearly 100,000 volumes, and her new novel, "Silent and True," is said to start off nearly as well as if there had been no "hard times" for booksellers to talk about.

PROBABLY, all things considered, says the Publishers' Circular, London, the Athenæum's list of new books for the week ending September 8 was the shortest ever made public, considering the increase of readers, buyers, and the population.

THE late Melancthon W. Jacobus, D.D., was one of the most distinguished leaders of the Presbyterian Church, and the promised publication, by Robert Carter & Bros., of a memorial volume, “The Christian's Heritage; and Other Sermons," will be a gratification to very many. It will contain an excellent portrait.

ROBERT CLARKE & Co. call especial attention to their medical department, in which they have just added Dr. Geo. E. Walton's "Physician's Pocket Case Record and Prescription Blank-Book, with Visiting List," and "Physican's Case Record Ledger." They will send their catalogue on application.

N. TIBBALS & SONS call our attention to the fact that they and not the Central Book Concern, as was reported in our columns of September 22d, were the purchasers of the plates of

Sigourney's "Whisper to a Bride." They intend to issue the work in two neat editions, with a marriage certificate inclosed in each.

CONTRIBUTIONS for Messrs. Bangs & Co.'s regular fall parcel sale should be invoiced to them not later than the end of next week, as the sale commences Nov. 13th. The success of the recent trade sale is likely to make publishers and manufacturers more ready to contribute to this.

SCRIBNER, WELFORD & ARMSTRONG are now getting in a varied assortment of English juveniles in preparation for the holiday trade. Their stock is exceedingly full in Warne's picture-books, of which there are many fresh issues, and in filling out juvenile counters, in view of the fact that "Christmas is coming," the retailing trade should "make a note on't." MESSRS. PORTER & COATES are doing well with their new venture," Happy Days;" already the issue has reached the large number of ten thousand copies. The new work of Dr. Joseph H. Seiss, D.D., is now ready and for sale. The subject is one of great interest, as it treats of one of the wonders of the world, "A Miracle in Stone, or the Great Pyramid of Egypt."

HURD & HOUGHTON will have ready shortly

a fine illustrated volume entitled "Californian Pictures in Prose and Verse," by the late Benjamin Parke Avery, for some time editor of the Overland Monthly. The illustrations have been drawn by Thomas Moran and others, after sketches by some of the best artists on the Pacific coast, and the volume promises to make an attractive holiday-book.

MISS WARNER's new novel, "Diana," is on the list for early publication at G. P. Putnam's Sons'. It is the story of the life of a country minister's wife, told in Miss Warner's delight ful style, and with nearer approach to the charming naïveté of the " Wide, Wide World" than almost any of the recent books. Several of the capital juveniles already spoken of will be issued simultaneously with this book.

THE works of Coleridge and Keats, in two volumes, form the second monthly issue in Hurd & Houghton's new Riverside Edition of the British Poets, and are just ready. Burns, in one volume, and Byron, in five volumes, will follow successively in November and December. Wordsworth's works, first issued, are meeting with a rapid sale, and the elegant library dress in which the volumes appear is much appreciated by book-buyers.

THOS. NELSON & SONS are issuing this fall several new books and new editions of popular old books by W. H. G. Kingston-as everybody knows, one of the most stirring of English writers of tales of adventure. 'Twice Lost," a story of shipwreck on the Australian coast, "The Young Llanero," a tale of wild life in Venezuela, and other stories of all parts of the world, are enough to set any boy wild with delight.

a creditable addition to the literature of NorseLand, so popular in the West.

MRS. CLARA ERSKINE CLEMENT, whose excellent Handbook of Legendary and Mythological_Art" and "Painters, Sculptors, Architects, Engravers, and their Works" have met with such cordial recognition from the artloving public, is preparing, in association with Mr. Laurence Hutton, a new work entitled 'Artists of the Nineteenth Century," which will be published by Hurd & Houghton as a companion-volume to the above-named books. A NEW Volume from that veteran engineer, Mr. John W. Nystrom, of Philadelphia, ought to be well received by a trade which has been selling his manuals on mechanics for the best part of a generation. A "New Treatise on Steam-Engineering," dealing with the physical properties of permanent gases and of different kinds of vapor, is in press by G. P. Putnam's Sons. They will add to their medical list a treatise by Dr. John Althaus, on "Diseases of the Nervous System: their Prevalence and Pathology."

DODD, MEAD & Co. mean to make Lubke's great "History of Art," as revised from the existing translation and extended by Clarence Cook, the finest book on their list, and one of the finest books on any American list. Mr. Cook has discovered, it is stated, many blunders in the English translation, some of which absolutely falsify the author's meaning; he has obtained new material from the recent (seventh) German edition of the work; and he has himself added a new chapter of peculiar interest, on the Castellani collection. This will be freshly illustrated, and many other new cuts are added, making several hundred in all. The book should be one of the great successes of the holiday season, and thereafter remain the standard edition of a standard work.

ences

THE announcement by Robert Carter & Bros. of a book by the veteran American missionary, Rev. Cyrus Hamlin, D.D., giving his experiAmong the Turks," and the knowledge he has acquired of them during his long residence in their midst, should be welcome to a His book will deal with large class of readers. the origin, progress, laws, religion, military power, educational institutions, and other peculiarities of this interesting people now brought with unusual prominence before the sonal narrative. It will be ready about Novempublic, while interweaving an interesting perber ist. At the same time will be issued Dr. J. R. Macduff's promised life of Christ for children, which will bear the title of Brighter than the Sun; or, Christ the Light of the World," and will have sixteen full-page illustrations, by Rowan.

BUSINESS NOTES.