Bookseller

“ I have studied the craft so diligently that by merely clapping my eyes upon a bookseller I can tell you with certainty what manner of books he sells; but you must know that the ideal bookseller has no fads, being equally proficient in and a lover of all spheres, departments, branches, and lines of his art. ”

“ And, by this plan, it is believed that, while some firms at present growing into eminence may have been omitted, or have received but scant acknowledgment, no one Publisher or Bookseller, whose spirit and labours have as yet had time to justify a claim to a niche in the "History of Booksellers," has been altogether passed over. ”

“ In this, the libraries should consider they are not a trade organization, who, like the booksellers, depend on their trade for a living. Publisher and bookseller are one in interest—producer and distributor, and it is economically proper that the publisher's product should pass through the hands of the bookseller, and to whom?—to their clientele, the public. What relation does the library have to the bookseller, other than as a buyer, the same as the rest of the community? ”

“ But if I could prevail on someone—a bookseller—to print what I write, I hope you will consent to my doing so—not putting my name to the thing, of course?”
“And does my Fanny believe that ’tis all so easy to persuade a bookseller to pay her printer’s bill?” he said, pinching her ear. “Booksellers are shrewd men of business.”
“But even men of business have their weak moments,” said she. “And so if—if—you would not think it too bold of me to let James take my parcel to a bookseller? ”

“ When the shop of a bookseller, with a promising catalogue which arrives over night, is not too far distant, bibliophiles have been known to rush to the spot in the grey morning, before the doors open. There are amateurs, however, who prefer to stay comfortably at home, and pity these poor fanatics, shivering in the rain outside a door in Oxford Street or Booksellers’ Row. There is a length to which enthusiasm cannot go, and many collectors draw the line at rising early in the morning. ”

“ The more clear and definite your orders are made out, the more promptly and completely can your bookseller supply them.
An ideal bookseller, qualified to act as your agent, is one who has familiarized himself with the various editions of books, and will always make selections with greater stress on quality than quantity; who will not send you the second edition of a scientific work when a third is out ”

“ And just as it seems that the bookseller is wrong in feeling that the librarian is interfering with his business, so I think it is wrong for the librarian to feel that the bookseller should in any way be limited or hampered or belittled in his kind of work of getting books to the people. ”

“ Such complacency on the part of the bookseller might argue for direct dealing on the part of the publisher by means of circulars and letters, thus saving the expense of a traveller. But firms that have tried this have had a change of heart and have quickly availed themselves of the traveller's services.
He is useful in ways other than selling. If he is keen to advance his firm's interests,—and most of the book travellers are,—he will interest the bookseller's clerks in the principal books of his line. ”

“ Your country bookseller is, in fact, more likely, such tales does he hear of London auctions, and such p. 263catalogues does he receive by every post, to exaggerate the value of his wares than to part with them pleasantly, and as a country bookseller should, ‘just to clear my shelves, you know, and give me a bit of room.’ The only compensation for this is the catalogues themselves. You get them, at least, for nothing, and it cannot be denied that they make mighty pretty reading. ”

“ A new type of bookseller has developed during the last twenty-five years—a man who combines part of the knowledge of the antiquarian of yore with the qualities the modern collector and book buyer will request from his agent. Books and literary property have become commercial values equal to stocks which are listed upon the stock exchange; subject to{115} corners created by shrewd buyers and holders, to fluctuations caused by selling en masse. The successful rare-book dealer of today must operate with his wares like a stock broker. ”

“ Every bookseller is of necessity a speculator, for it is his [118] business to buy at a low price and to sell at a higher. The amateur, however, should, if he would preserve his title, abstain from traffic of this kind and be satisfied to pay for the privilege of forming a library without regard to the ultimate profit or loss. His pleasure should consist in acquisition and the opportunity afforded of fondling his store while there is time, for he may be absolutely certain that the whole assortment—bookcases, shelves, and all—will find their way to the auctioneer directly he has done with them. ”

“ There is every reason for placing your orders with your local dealer so long as he can care for them intelligently. A large discount should not be the sole factor in deciding where to buy, but keep in mind this, a conscientious bookseller can save you money by carefully watching your interests in the very many details that pertain to bookbuying. Having decided on your bookseller agent, place all your orders with him. It will save you time, which is equivalent to money. Keep an exact duplicate copy of every order you place, and for this purpose a manifold book is preferable. ”

“ The most startling innovation he made in the trade of bookselling, and the one which led to the largest amount of opposition on the part of his fellow-tradesmen, was in regard to the way of dealing with what are called “remainders.” When a bookseller found a book did not sell well, it was his custom to put what remained into a private sale, “where only booksellers were admitted, and of them only such as were invited by having a catalogue sent them. ”

“ Is the librarian's valuable time well occupied by looking after cheap copies of books? 2. Will not the proposed action on the part of librarians go far to abolish the intelligent second-hand bookseller in the same way as the new bookseller has been well-nigh abolished in consequence of large discounts? 3. Will not such action prevent the publication of excellent books on subjects little likely to be popular? ”

“ The booksellers most heartily endorse the great and good work the libraries perform to the community, and from a selfish point of view, the bookseller freely admits the great assistance derived by them from the influence of the libraries in creating a desire for reading and the possession of books, and the general educating and elevating of the community, and the bookseller also feels that his presence in any community is likewise educating and elevating and that his interests should be reasonably conserved. ”

“ As a rule the bookseller is sufficiently master of his business to enter likely material, under county and town headings, but not infrequently books which have a local appeal appear in other parts of the catalogue. In this work the librarian will naturally and wisely make use of his whole staff, and every inducement should be held out to assistants to help in the discovering of local material and to make suggestions for the extension of the collection. ”

“ In consequence of the large consumption of books the machinery for the manufacture of copies was substantially perfected, and publication was effected with comparative rapidity and cheapness; bookselling became a respectable and lucrative trade, and the bookseller's shop a usual meeting-place of men of culture. ”

“ Between the more ambitious shop and the nondescript bookstall, there is a class or species of bookseller who deserves a niche in this place. We refer to men like Purcell, in Red Lion Passage, Red Lion Square, Holborn, who are almost as much printsellers as booksellers. They make one book by destroying many others. ”

“ He acquaints himself with the essential character of the new book, points out to his customer enough of interest to cause him to glance through it, and finally sells it to him; for the intelligent bookseller knows the taste and reading habits of his customers. He has his leading customers in mind from the time he orders a new book till he has shown it and sold it to them. ”

“ The rest of the trade are content to take their refuse, with which, and the fresh scum of the press, they furnish one side of a shop, which serves for the sign of a bookseller, rather than a real one; but, instead of selling, dealing as factors, and procure what the country divines and gentry send for; of whom each hath his book factor, and, when wanting any thing, writes to his bookseller, and pays his bill. ”

“ If his business is not self-sustaining, he must fail. The reduction of real booksellers, by a most liberal construction of what constitutes a bookseller, from about 3,000 when our population was 40 millions to about 2,000 with our population at 90 millions, is evidence of the truth of this assertion. The booksellers are entitled to sell to everyone who buys books, libraries or others.
6. The libraries are not booksellers, therefore they are not entitled to booksellers' discounts, which they are now getting from certain sources. Thus, booksellers are deprived of the library business. ”

“ From what you say, it would appear to be wiser to lay out one's money at a bookseller's than at a book-auction?
Lysand. Both methods must of necessity be resorted to: for you cannot find with the one what you may obtain at the other. A distinguished collector, such as the late Mr. Reed, or Mr. Gough, or Mr. Joseph Windham, dies, and leaves his library to be sold by auction for the benefit of his survivors. Now, in this library so bequeathed, you have the fruits of book-labour, collected for a long period, and cultivated in almost every department of literature. ”

“ Every publisher is a bookseller in so far that he sells the books he publishes, but some publishers, Longmans and Methuen for example, are not booksellers in the sense of selling all kinds of books. On the other hand, Hatchards, of Piccadilly, and others that could be named, are not only retail booksellers in a large way of business, but they are also publishers. ”

“ We want every Bookseller, and every News Agent, everywhere, to sell our books, and to keep an assortment of them on hand, and to send to us at once for a copy of our New Illustrated Descriptive Catalogue, which look over carefully, marking what books you may want, as it contains a list of all books published by us, all or any of which will be sold by us to everybody in the Book Trade, to Booksellers, or to News Agents, at very low rates. There are no books published you can sell as many of, or make as much money on, as Petersons'. ”

“ The doctor's son, a poor curate, entered his late father's library for the first time, and found there a mass of books, which occupied nearly a month in selling, and realized, to his delight, a large sum of money.
The contempt with which Dr. G. received the bookseller's proposal is peculiarly typical of the book-collector. If he cannot obtain what he wants just exactly when he wants it, he does not care about it. ”

“ By the term 'early-printed books' the bookseller generally means fifteenth-century works, or incunabula as they are now called. You must needs be a rich man if this be your hobby, for every volume issued prior to the year 1500—however worthless as literature or useless from a bibliographical standpoint—is now worth at least a couple of pounds, provided it is complete and in good condition. ”

“ It may, of course, be said that it is a common thing for the same book to bring different amounts at different times, even when the sales take place within a few months of each other. A bookseller, dissatisfied with the amount bid for some scarce work he has put on the market, will frequently buy it in and offer it again later on with satisfactory results. ”

“ Folios can take care of themselves, but a man needs to have a first-rate all-round knowledge who would essay to catalogue a good old-fashioned miscellaneous library.
In France, sale-catalogues are prepared by experts, who are called in to assist the auctioneers; in London the auctioneers keep their own cataloguers, and in the country towns they seek the assistance of booksellers, or do the work themselves. ”

“ Bookbuying and bookselling is a business transaction like any other, and it is the bookseller's business to know what his stock is worth. All the same, I hope the eminent statesman sent the bookseller a substantial Christmas box without telling him what a fool he had been. ”

“ Sellers of books must always exist, but it is possible [Pg 61] to drive out of the trade those who do it the most honour. We see what has occurred in the new book trade, and there can be little doubt that the book-buyer loses much more than he gains by the present system of discount. When the bookseller could obtain sufficient profit by the sale of new books to keep his shop open, it was worth his while to take some trouble in finding the book required ”

“ The facts are that the smaller libraries, and to some extent the larger libraries, are constantly supplied by publisher and bookseller with circular matter regarding new and forthcoming publications, letters and personal visits as to special publications, as well as sending the new books, as issued, on approval, at considerable cost and trouble, and some loss of sale, because books are not available for display to possible buyers who visit the dealer's place of business. ”