1. The book-trade has arisen from small beginnings to its present
magnitude and importance. Before the invention of typography, it was
carried on by the aid of transcribers; and the booksellers of Greece,
Rome, and Alexandria, during the flourishing state of their
literature, kept a large number of manuscript copyists in constant
employ. Among the Romans, the transcribers or copyists were chiefly
slaves, who were very valuable to their owners, on account of their
capacity for this employment.
2. In the middle ages, when learning was chiefly confined to the
precincts of monastic institutions, the monks employed much of their
time in copying the ancient classics and other works; and this labor
was often imposed upon them as a penance for the commission of sin.
From this cause, and from an ignorance of the true meaning of the
author, much of their copying was inaccurately performed, so that
great pains have been since required in the correction of the
manuscripts of those times.
3. This mode of multiplying copies of books was exceedingly slow, and,
withal, so very expensive, that learning was confined almost
exclusively to people of rank, and the lower orders were only rescued
from total ignorance by the reflected light of their superiors. For a
long time, during the reign of comparative barbarism in Europe, books
were so scarce, that a present of a single copy to a religious house
was thought to be so valuable a gift, that it entitled the donor to
the prayers of the community, which were considered efficacious in
procuring for him eternal salvation.
4. After the establishment of the universities of Paris and Bologna,
there were dealers in books, called _stationarii_, who loaned single
manuscripts at high prices; and, in the former place, no person, after
the year 1432, could deal in books in any way, without permission from
the university, by which officers were appointed to examine the
manuscripts, and fix the price for which they might be sold or hired
out.
5. For a long time after the invention of printing, the printers sold
their own publications; and, in doing this, especially at some
distance from their establishments, they were aided by those who had
formerly been employed as copyists. Some of these travelling agents,
at length, became stationary, and procured the publication of works on
their own account.
6. The first bookseller who purchased manuscripts from the authors,
and caused them to be printed without owning a press himself, was John
Otto, of Nuremburg. He commenced this mode of doing business, in 1516.
In 1545, there were, for the first time, two such booksellers in
Leipsic. The great mart for the sale of their books was Frankfort on
the Maine, where were held three extensive fairs every year. Leipsic,
however, soon became, and still continues, the centre of the German
book-trade.
7. The first Leipsic catalogue of books appeared as early as the year
1600; but the fairs at that place did not become important, as regards
the book-trade, until 1667, when it was attended by nineteen foreign
booksellers. The booksellers of Germany, as well as some from distant
countries, meet at the semi-annual fairs held in that city, to dispose
of books, and to settle their accounts with each other. Every German
publisher has also an agent there, who receives his publications, and
sends them, according as they are ordered, to any part of Germany.
8. In no other part of the world, has such a connexion of booksellers
been formed, although almost every kingdom of Europe has some city or
cities in which this branch of trade is chiefly concentrated; as
London, in England; Edinburgh, in Scotland; and Amsterdam, Utrecht,
Leyden, and Haerlem, in the Netherlands. In Spain and Portugal, the
price of every book is regulated by the government.
9. A very convenient method of effecting the sale and exchange of
books among booksellers, has been adopted in the United States; and
this is by auction. A sale of this kind is held in Boston once, and in
New-York and Philadelphia twice, every year; and none are invited to
attend it but the _trade_; hence such sales are denominated
_trade-sales_.
10. The sale is usually conducted by an auctioneer who has been
selected by a committee of the trade in the city in which it is to be
held. In order to obtain a sufficient amount of stock for the purpose,
the agent issues proposals, in which he informs publishers and others
concerned in this branch of business, of his intention, and solicits
invoices of books, to be sold at the time specified. A catalogue of
all the books thus sent for sale, is distributed among the
booksellers.
11. The booksellers having assembled, the books which may have been
accumulated from different parts of the Union, are offered in
convenient lots, and _struck off_ to the highest bidder. Each
purchaser holds in his hand the printed catalogue, on the broad margin
of which he marks, if he sees fit, the prices at which the books have
been sold; and the record thus kept affords a tolerable means of
determining their value, for a considerable time afterwards.
12. A sale of this kind occupies from four to six days; and, at the
close of it, a settlement takes place, in which the parties are
governed by the terms previously published. The payments are made in
cash, or by notes at four or six months, according to the amount which
the purchaser may have bought out of one invoice. The conductors of
the sale are allowed about five per cent. commission for their
services.
13. A vast number of books is also sold, every year, at auction, to
miscellaneous collections of people, not only in the cities and
considerable towns, but likewise in the villages throughout the
country. By many booksellers, this method of sale is thought to be
injurious to the trade, since it has reduced the prices of books, and
interfered with the regular method of doing business. These
disadvantages, however, have been far overbalanced by the increased
number of readers which has been thus created.
14. The circulation of books is likewise promoted by means of
travelling agents, who either sell them at once, or obtain
subscriptions for them with the view to their future delivery. These
methods have been employed more or less from the very commencement of
the printing business; and they have probably contributed more to the
general extension of knowledge than the sale of books by stationary
booksellers. In fact, they are among the most prominent causes of the
vast trade in books, which is now carried on, especially in the United
States.
15. Nevertheless, publishers, who do not employ agents to vend their
books, generally consider them interlopers upon their business; and
the people themselves, who owe a great share of their intellectual
cultivation to this useful class of men, are generally averse to
afford them the necessary patronage, because they require a small
advance on the city prices to pay travelling expenses.
16. A considerable amount of books is also sold by merchants who
reside at some distance from the cities and large towns. They,
however, seldom venture to purchase those which have not been well
known and approved in their neighborhood; and, in a majority of cases,
regard them as mere subjects of merchandise, without taking into
consideration the effects most likely to be produced by these silent,
but powerful agents, when circulated among their customers.
17. Some booksellers in Europe confine their trade chiefly to
particular departments; such as law, theology, and medicine. Others
deal in toy-books, and books of education, or in rare and scarce
books. This is the case, to a limited extent, in the United States,
although our booksellers commonly keep an assortment of miscellaneous
publications, as well as various articles in the stationary line; such
as paper, quills, inkstands, and blank work.
[Illustration: The ARCHITECT.]