Sir,--In the 2nd vol. of Mr. Collier's valuable and interesting
_Extracts from the Registers of the Stationers' Company_, p. 28, is the
following entry:--
"Thos. Dason. Licensed unto him the praise of follie; to print
not above xv° of any impression, with this condition, that any
of the Company may laie on with him, reasonablie at every
impression, as they think good, and that he shall gyve
reasonable knowledge before to them as often as he shall print
it."
This is both curious and important information as being, in all
probability, the earliest recorded instance of a custom still kept up
amongst booksellers, and which now passes under the designation of a
"Trade edition;" the meaning of which being, that the copyright, instead
of being the exclusive property of one person, is divided into shares
and held by several. There are Trade editions of such voluminous authors
as Shakspeare, Gibbon, Hume, and Robertson, for instance; and Alison's
_Europe_, if published half a century back, might in all probability
have been added to the list. The difference between the ancient and the
modern usage appears to be this, that formerly when the type was set up
for an edition "any of the company may laie on, (these two last words
are still technically used by printers for supplying type with paper,)
reasonablie at every impression," &c.; in other words, may print as many
copies from the type "as they think good;" whereas now, the edition is
first printed, and then the allotment of the copies, and the actual cost
of them is made, according to the number of shares.
If this is a "Note" worth registering, it is much at your service,
whilst for a "Query," I should be very glad to be informed, when a very
able review, the date of which I neglected {56} to make at the time,
appeared in the _Times_ newspaper, of the 2nd edition of Cottle's _Life
of Coleridge_.
With many good wishes for the success of your register,