first in importance to most Works issuing from the Press. There may
perhaps be some few exceptions, but, generally, their success must in a
great degree be influenced by the mode and means adopted for their
Publication. Not that it can be supposed that all Works can alike
succeed; but that many fail in obtaining that degree of attention which
they might otherwise have received owing to some circumstances attending
the means adopted in the final step of Publication.
London is undoubtedly the great emporium for Literary Works, as for
almost every other species of Production. Even Printers in the country
are so well aware of this, that they rarely fail to obtain the
co-operation of a London Publisher in bringing out any Works in which
they may venture to engage; though Works thus Published labour under the
disadvantage naturally arising from their not being entirely under the
management of the London Publisher.
There are other reasons which render London[54-*] the peculiar, and it
might be said almost the exclusive channel for Publication. In it all
the branches of the Periodical Press are conducted; Daily, Weekly,
Monthly, and Quarterly, the various avenues to the public, not only in
this vast city, but in every part of the empire, and of the world, are
here open, and consequently all the vehicles for Announcements,
Advertisements, and Criticisms, are here only accessible. Add to this
that from London every species of literary production is constantly
despatched to every part of the empire and of the world, and it will
then be seen how small a probability there can be that any work not
Published in London can obtain even the most moderate share of general
attention.
London Publishers are of two classes: those who reside at the West End
of the Town, and who confine their attention to Publishing only; and
those who reside in the City, and who are also engaged in Wholesale
Bookselling. Wholesale Booksellers generally devote their especial
attention to the supply of the Retail Trade both in Town and Country.
Some make no further arrangements for Publishing than simply to supply,
when applied for, such Works as their Country Correspondents, who are
Printers, may have transmitted to them for that purpose; while others
are Publishers to a considerable extent of what are called Standard
Works--Works on Education, Science, &c., and such as are in regular and
constant demand. To these, therefore, the attention of the City
Booksellers is very generally directed; while that of the Publishers at
the West End of the Town is almost entirely devoted to what may be
called the Literature of the Day--Works of Amusement and light reading,
Travels, Memoirs, Novels, Tales, Poems, and other productions of a
similar character.
This distinction of the two Classes of Publishers arises therefore, in
the first place, from the nature of their avocations, and in the second
from their peculiar Locality; the one having their Establishments in the
centre of resort, for those who are engaged in Trade and Business; the
other in that of Fashion and Amusement; so that there is not only a
convenience but propriety in the arrangement that custom has
established, that works of what may be called Current Literature should
be Published at the West End of the Town, while those more immediately
connected with the Business of Life should appear in the City.
It is generally understood that the name of an Established Publisher
operates not only as a Recommendation to those Works to which it is
Prefixed, but also tends to make them known through Extensive Connexions
already formed. It also tends to associate them with other Popular Works
issuing from the same Establishment.
There are three modes of Publishing--that in which a Work is Published
entirely for, and at the expense of the Author, who thus retains the
Property of the Work; that in which the Publisher takes all or part of
the risk, and divides the profit; and that in which the Publisher
purchases the Copyright, and thus secures to himself the entire
proceeds. The First of these is the basis on which many First
Productions are Published; the Second, where a certain demand can be
calculated upon; and the Third, where an Author has become so popular as
to ensure an extensive circulation.
The first step that should be taken by an Author intending to produce a
Work should be to take the opinion of an experienced Publisher, by doing
which not only much unnecessary trouble may be spared, but frequently
much unavailable labour and even expense. It is not at all uncommon for
Authors, in the course of their reading, to become so impressed with
some favourite subject as to conclude that it must prove of the same
interest to others, and under this impression proceed to bestow
considerable labour upon it. Had they, however, taken the course here
recommended, they would probably have learned either that there was
already some very similar Work, or that the production proposed would
not, from some cause known perhaps only to the Publisher, be at all
likely to meet with the success anticipated. These are circumstances of
constant occurrence, which the Publishers of this little Work have had
frequent opportunities of knowing.
Generally speaking, Publishers are the most competent advisers on all
subjects connected with their peculiar avocations, having constantly
before them the best means of judging, and being naturally interested in
the success of the Works in which they engage. Authors cannot therefore
adopt a more judicious course than to commit the entire management of
their Productions to their care.
Many Authors, after having written their Works, consign them to
oblivion, from Publishers declining, often in consequence of their own
peculiar engagements, to undertake their Publication. This may be
avoided by the Plan now adopted of _Publishing for Authors_, and which
is more particularly referred to in a subsequent page.
Advertising, as an essential part of Publication, should never be lost
sight of; but it is a measure which should be judiciously regulated and
cautiously pursued, or a large amount of expense may be incurred to very
little purpose.
Another point to be attended to, is the placing in the proper channels
Copies for Review. This is a very advisable measure, as without it many
of the Works issuing from the Press would not be likely to meet the eye
of those engaged in the announcement of New Works.
Where Authors may desire to Print only a limited number of Copies for
the use of their friends, this may easily be accomplished without the
least personal inconvenience, through the intervention of the
Publishers.
Should further information on any of the foregoing subjects be desired,
the Publishers will have great pleasure in affording it on application
personally, or by letter.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 2-*: Shallow frames of wood, divided into as many compartments
as there are Letters, Capital, Small Capital, and ordinary (called
_Lower-Case_), together with Italic, and the different Stops, Marks, and
other Points employed for reference, quotations, &c.]
[Footnote 2-+: Technically called Copy.]
[Footnote 2-++: A blank piece of Type metal, or one without a Letter, of
which there are various kinds; used also to separate the lines from each
other, according as the pages may be; whether _full_, having the lines
close together, or _light_, with a greater distance between them.]
[Footnote 3-*: This is done by placing the several pages at proper
distances on a large stone, fixed on a strongly constructed table; each
Page being surrounded by blocks of wood prepared for the purpose, and
when firmly wedged together in an iron frame are ready for the press,
and are then called a _Forme_.]
[Footnote 4-*: Driven back the wedges by which the Type is compressed
and held firmly together within the iron frame, in order to allow of his
separating any part of the Pages which may be necessary.]
[Footnote 5-*: It is desirable to observe this, as it has sometimes been
supposed that the Proof-sheets of an entire work may be furnished at
once. This it will be seen could not be, in a work of any extent; as the
quantity of Type required for each sheet renders it necessary that the
type should be liberated as speedily as convenient, in order to
facilitate the progress and completion of the Printing.]
[Footnote 5-+: Taken asunder, and every Letter, Space, Point, &c.
restored to its allotted compartment in the Type Case.]
[Footnote 5-++: The cost of Setting the Type is regulated by the
Thousand, which will explain why a full page or a smaller type is more
expensive than a light or a larger.]
[Footnote 6-*: From the labour required in setting the Type, it will be
easily conceived that Printing must necessarily be a rather slow
process: it is so generally, three or four sheets per week being usually
considered tolerably good speed, allowing for the unavoidable
impediments occasioned by the transmitting and correcting of Proofs, &c.
On urgent occasions, however, much greater progress may be made, which
is accomplished by dividing the Manuscript among a greater number of
hands. The publishers of this little work have had a volume printed in
the astonishingly short space of three days. It was a work by Sir Lytton
Bulwer, and the effort was rendered necessary in consequence of the
arrangements made for the Foreign Editions. Nearly one hundred workmen
were employed in effecting it.]
[Footnote 7-*: The Roller is a modern improvement. Formerly, the Inking
process was performed with two large Balls, filled with wool, and
covered with a sort of parchment. The Roller is a great improvement,
diffusing the Ink more equally and producing a much greater uniformity
of colour (as it is called) in the Printing.]
[Footnote 10-*: The Newspaper Press affords a remarkable instance of the
surprising effect of combined and persevering effort. Few persons,
perhaps, among those who are accustomed to receive the Daily Papers, are
aware of the vast amount of cost and labour constantly employed in their
production. To take for an instance the Times Newspaper. To accumulate
the various articles of intelligence which are there collected, persons
are constantly and assiduously employed in all directions, both at home
and abroad. For the Foreign department, gentlemen, men of education and
address, especially fitted for their office, resident in the various
foreign capitals, and who regularly transmit (when necessary, by
express) the earliest accounts of important occurrences, so effectually
indeed as sometimes even to precede the government couriers; so that
during the late war, events of the highest importance were first
promulgated through the columns of this paper.--For the daily
occurrences of the metropolis and its environs, others, devoted to this
particular office. For the political circles, the Courts of Law, Police
Offices, Accidents, Offences, &c., others;--and for the two Houses of
Parliament, expert and expeditious short-hand writers; all of whom are
continually engaged in transmitting their various reports to the office
with the most persevering activity, to be there arranged, condensed, and
fitted to their respective columns, by the sub-editors and those
employed in what is called making up the Paper; while the Editor's
attention is more especially engaged in watching the progress of events,
and in furnishing on the moment those remarks which are to be found in
what is called the Leading Article. Thus the whole is in one day
communicated, arranged, and printed; and by the same evening's post
transmitted to the most distant parts of the Empire; a result which may
well strike those who enter into the contemplation of the vast
expenditure of effort and capital which are constantly employed for the
purpose, with astonishment.
In the completion of their Steam Printing Press alone, the Proprietors
are said to have expended upwards of sixty thousand pounds. The daily
sale of the paper is understood to be about ten thousand copies; and
these, by means of the Steam Press, are printed off in the almost
incredibly short space of about two hours and a half.]
[Footnote 12-*: Something like this is the plan originally invented and
still practised in China. The work intended to be printed is transcribed
by a careful Writer upon thin transparent Paper. The Engraver glues this
with its face downwards upon a smooth tablet of Pear or Apple tree, or
some other hard wood; and then with Gravers and other instruments, he
cuts the wood away in all those parts upon which he finds nothing
traced, thus leaving the transcribed characters Embossed and ready for
Printing. In this manner he prepares as many Blocks as there are written
Pages. In printing they do not as in Europe use a Press; the delicate
nature of their Paper would not admit of it; when once, however, their
Blocks are engraved, the Paper is cut, and the Ink is ready, one man,
says Du Halde, with his brush, can without fatigue print ten thousand
sheets in a day. The Block is Inked with one Brush, and with another the
Paper is rubbed down upon it so as to take the Impression. In this way
the Printer can travel with his Ink and his Blocks, and from place to
place take off as many copies as he may find occasion for. According to
Chinese chronology, this art was discovered in China about fifty years
before the Christian era. It seems to be especially adapted to their
language, in which are employed such a vast variety of characters.]
[Footnote 14-*: "Before the invention of this divine art, mankind were
absorbed in the grossest ignorance, and oppressed under the most abject
despotism of tyranny. The clergy, who before this era held the key of
all the learning in Europe, were themselves ignorant, proud,
presumptuous, arrogant, and artful; their devices were soon detected
through the invention of typography. Many of them, as it may naturally
be imagined, were very averse to the progress of this invention, as well
as the _brief-men_, or writers, who lived by their manuscripts for the
laity. They went so far as to attribute this blessed invention to the
devil, and some of them warned their hearers from using such diabolical
books."--_Lemoine._]
[Footnote 22-*: Mr. Lodge's Peerage is perhaps the only instance in
which a whole work, of that magnitude, has been kept standing in Type.
This has been done for two reasons; first, because of the great expense
of setting the Type afresh for each Edition; and secondly, that by being
thus kept standing, it may be rendered constantly and uniformly correct,
a point of the greatest importance in a work containing so large a mass
of family history, the value of which so much depends on the accuracy of
names and dates.]
[Footnote 26-*: The Rev. Dr. Macknight, who translated anew the
Apostolic Epistles, is said to have copied over with his own hand that
laborious and valuable work five times, previously to his committing it
to the Press.]
[Footnote 27-*: The Publishers of this little work have frequently had
Works committed to their care for Publication, on which the charge for
Correcting has almost equalled that of the Setting of the Type,
occasioned in a great degree by a want of attention to the points above
referred to.]
[Footnote 50-*: Engraving on Steel is a modern and highly important
improvement. Previously, elaborate Engravings on Copper would lose their
delicate tints after Printing a few hundred copies, but from Steel many
thousand impressions may be taken without the slightest perceptible
difference between the first and the last. To this is chiefly
attributable the present very moderate price of beautifully Embellished
Works, the use of Steel instead of Copper rendering it no longer
necessary to Re-Engrave the Plates.]
[Footnote 54-*: This is of course not to be understood as applying to
Edinburgh and Dublin, both of which have their respective local circles,
though for their English circulation they depend chiefly on London.]
PUBLICATION OF WORKS FOR AUTHORS.
Having been for many years engaged in conducting an extensive Publishing
Business comprising the productions of the most Popular Writers, the
Publishers of this little Work beg leave respectfully to state that they
have, in consequence of repeated applications, now devoted a branch of
their Establishment to conducting the
PUBLICATION OF WORKS FOR AUTHORS,
securing to them the direction and controul, as well as the entire
proceeds and property of their Publications.
Estimates of the Cost of large or small Editions, including Paper,
Printing, &c., will be given on application personally, or by Letter
addressed to Messrs. SAUNDERS and OTLEY, Publishers, Conduit Street,
Hanover Square, London.
PUBLISHED BY
MESSRS. SAUNDERS AND OTLEY.
CONDUIT STREET, HANOVER SQUARE,
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ON THE FIRST OF EVERY MONTH.
THE METROPOLITAN MAGAZINE,
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OF
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THE METROPOLITAN was commenced in 1831, Edited by THOMAS CAMPBELL, Esq.,
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Esq., Author of "Lalla Rookh," &c.; and subsequently by CAPTAIN MARRYAT,
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In its pages have appeared all the Popular Novels of Captain Marryat, as
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be mentioned JAMES MONTGOMERY, Esq., Author of "The World before the
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No effort is spared to perpetuate the high character which
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All communications are requested to be addressed (post free) to the
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WORKS BY SIR LYTTON BULWER, BART., M.P.
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RIENZI,
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LETTER TO A LATE CABINET MINISTER ON THE PRESENT CRISIS.
To which is added A LETTER FROM LORD BROUGHAM TO THE AUTHOR.
Thirteenth Edition.
V.
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THE DUCHESSE DE LA VALLIERE.
A DRAMA, in Five Acts.
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ATHENS--ITS RISE AND FALL.
With Views of the Arts, Literature, and Social Life of the Athenian
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VII.
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ERNEST MALTRAVERS.
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ALICE; OR THE MYSTERIES.
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IX.
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WORKS BY CAPTAIN MARRYAT, R.N.
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NEWTON FOSTER;
OR THE MERCHANT SERVICE.
XI.
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THE KING'S OWN.
XII.
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PETER SIMPLE.
XIII.
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JACOB FAITHFUL.
XIV.
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THE PACHA OF MANY TALES.
XV.
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JAPHET IN SEARCH OF A FATHER.
XVI.
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MR. MIDSHIPMAN EASY.
*.* Most of the above Popular Works were first published in _The
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WORKS BY MRS. JAMESON.
XVII.
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MEMOIRS OF FEMALE SOVEREIGNS.
XVIII.
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CHARACTERISTICS OF WOMEN.
With upwards of Fifty illustrative Etchings, by the Author. New and
revised Edition.
"A beautiful and touching commentary on the heart and mind of
Woman."--_Literary Gazette._
"Two truly delightful volumes, the most charming of all the works
of a charming writer."--_Blackwood._
XIX.
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VISITS AND SKETCHES AT HOME AND ABROAD.
XX.
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WINTER STUDIES AND SUMMER RAMBLES IN CANADA.
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XXI.
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SOCIETY IN AMERICA.
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both as a sound scientific observer on questions of moral and
political philosophy, and as a writer of first-rate descriptive
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XXII.
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RETROSPECT OF WESTERN TRAVELS.
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former admirable productions on America. Her descriptions are
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XXIII.
MRS. HEMANS' LIFE, AND LETTERS.
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XXVI.
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XXXIII.
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MEMOIRS OF THE GREAT LORD BURGHLEY.
With his State Papers, and Private Letters, from the Original
Manuscripts. By the Rev. Dr. NARES, Regius Professor of Divinity in the
University of Oxford.
XXIX.
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MEMOIRS, CORRESPONDENCE, AND MANUSCRIPTS OF GENERAL LA FAYETTE.
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XXX.
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Written by Himself.
XXXI.
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XXXII.
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Written by Himself.
XXXIII.
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MEMOIRS OF LORD LIVERPOOL.
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XXXIV.