Volume II Part 9 (1/2)
According to the present system of publication in America, the grant of copyright would prove to be of advantage only to a few authors--of course, I refer to the most popular. I had free admission to the books of one of the largest publis.h.i.+ng houses in the United States, and I extracted from them the profits received by this house for works of a certain reputation. It will be perceived, that the editions published are not large. The profits of the American houses chiefly resulting from the number of works published, each of these yielding a moderate profit, which when collected together, swell into a large sum total.
+=========================+==============+===========+================+ copies printedTrade price +-------------------------+--------------+-----------+----------------+ Fielding 2,500104 cents many left unsold +-------------------------+--------------+-----------+----------------+ Prior's Life of Goldsmith 750200 cents sold +-------------------------+--------------+-----------+----------------+ Arethusa 1,25070 cents all sold +-------------------------+--------------+-----------+----------------+ Abel Allnut 1,25052 cents almost all sold +-------------------------+--------------+-----------+----------------+ Fellow Commoner 2,00070 cents many on hand +-------------------------+--------------+-----------+----------------+ Rifle Brigade 2,00037 cents many on hand +-------------------------+--------------+-----------+----------------+ Sharpe's Essays 1,00054 cents one half sold +=========================+==============+===========+================+
Now, as there are one hundred cents to a dollar, and the expenses of printing, paper, and advertising have to be deducted, as well as the copies left on hand, it will be evident, that the profit on each of the above works, would be too small to allow the publishers in America to give even 20 pounds for the copyright, the consequence of a copyright would therefore be, that the major portion of the works printed would not be published at all, and better works would be subst.i.tuted. Of course, such authors as Walter Scott, Byron, Bulwer, etcetera, have a most extensive sale; and the profits are in proportion, but then it must be remembered that a great many booksellers publish editions, and the profits are divided accordingly. Could Sir Walter Scott have obtained a copyright in the United States, it would have bean worth to him by this time at least 100,000 pounds.
The Americans talk so much about their being the most enlightened nation in the world, that it has been generally received to be the case. I have already stated my ideas on this subject, and I think that the small editions usually published, of works not standard or elementary, prove, that with the exception of newspapers, they are not a _reading_ nation.
The fact is, they have no time to read; they are all at work; and if they get through their daily newspaper, is quite as much as most of them can effect. Previous to my arrival in the United States, and even for some time afterwards, I had an idea that there was a much larger circulation of every cla.s.s of writing in America, than there really is.
It is only the most popular English authors, as Walter Scott, or the most fas.h.i.+onable, as Byron, which have any extensive circulation; the works which at present the Americans like best, are those of fiction in which there is anything to excite or amuse them, which is very natural, considering how actively they are employed during the major portion of their existence, and the consequent necessity of occasional relaxation.
When we consider the extreme cheapness of books in the United States, and the enormous price of them in this country, the facilities of reading them there, and the difficulty attending it here from the above cause, I have no hesitation in saying, that as a _reading nation_, the United States cannot enter into comparison with us.
As I am upon this subject, I cannot refrain from making a few remarks upon it, as connected with this country. The price of a book now published is enormous, when the prime cost of paper and printing is considered; the actual value of each three volumes of a moderate edition, which are sold at a guinea and a half, being about four s.h.i.+llings and sixpence, and when the edition is large, as the outlay for putting up the type is the same in both, of course it is even less; but the author must be paid, and upon the present small editions he adds considerably to the price charged upon every volume; then comes the expense of advertising, which is very heavy; the profits of the publisher, and the profits of the trade in general; for every book for which the public pay a guinea and a half, is delivered by the publisher to the trade, that is, to the booksellers, at 1 pound 1 s.h.i.+llings 3 pence. The allowance to the trade, therefore, is the heaviest tax of all; but it is impossible for booksellers to keep establishments, clerks, etcetera, without having indemnification. In all the above items, which so swells up the price of the book, there cannot well be any deduction made.
Let us examine into the division of profits. I am only making an approximation, but it is quite near enough for the purpose.
An edition of 1,000 copies at 1 pound 11 s.h.i.+llings 6 pence will give 1,575 pounds.
POSITIVE EXPENSES TO PUBLISHER.
Trade allowance of 10 s.h.i.+llings. 3 pence per copy: 512 pounds 10 s.h.i.+llings.
Extra allowance. 25 for 24-40 copies: 63 pounds.
Printing and paper, 4 s.h.i.+llings 6 pence per copy: 225 pounds 0 s.h.i.+llings.
Advertising, equal to 2 s.h.i.+llings per copy: 100 pounds 0 s.h.i.+llings.
Presentations to Universities and Reviewers, say 30 copies: 47 pounds 5 s.h.i.+llings.
The author if he is well known, may be said to receive 7 s.h.i.+llings per copy: 250 pounds 0 s.h.i.+llings.
Leaving for the publisher: 277 pounds 0 s.h.i.+llings.
Total 1,575 pounds 0 s.h.i.+llings.
All the first expenses being positive, it follows that the struggle is between the publisher and the author, as to what division shall be made of the remainder. The publisher points out the risk he incurs, and the author his time and necessities; and when it is considered that many authors take more than a year to write a book, it must be acknowledged that the sum paid to them, as I have put it down, is not too great. The risk, however, is with the publisher, and the great profits with the trade, which is perhaps the reason why booksellers often make fortunes, and publishers as often become bankrupts. Generally speaking, however, the two are combined, the sure gain of the bookseller being as a set off against the speculation of the publisher.
But one thing is certain, the price of books in this country is much too high, and what are the consequences? First, that instead of purchasing books, and putting them into their libraries, people have now formed themselves into societies and book-clubs, or trust entirely to obtaining them from circulating libraries. Without a book is very popular, it is known by the publisher what the sale is likely to be, within perhaps fifty copies; for the book-clubs and libraries will, and must have it, and hardly anybody else will; for who will pay a guinea and a half for a book which may, after all, prove not worth reading! Secondly, it has the effect of the works being reprinted abroad, and sent over to this country; which, of course, decreases the sale of the English edition.
At the Custom-House, they now admit English works printed in Paris, at a small duty, when brought over in a person's luggage for private reading; and these foreign editions are smuggled, and are to be openly purchased at most of the towns along the coast. This cannot be prevented--and as for any international copyright being granted by France or Belgium, I do not think that it ever will be; and if it were, it would be of no avail, for the pirating would then be carried on a little further off in the small German States; and if you drove it to China, it would take place there. We are running after a Will-o'-the-wisp in that expectation.
The fault lies in ourselves; the books are too dear, and the question now is, cannot they be made cheaper?
There is a luxury in printing, to which the English have been so long accustomed, that it would not do to deprive them of it. Besides, bad paper and bad type would make but little difference in the expense of the book, as my calculation will show; but if a three volume work [see Note 3] could be delivered to the public at ten s.h.i.+llings, instead of a guinea and a half, it would not only put a stop to piracy abroad, but the reduced price would induce many hundreds to put it into their library, and be independent of the hurried reading against time, and often against inclination, to which they are subject by book-clubs and circulating libraries; and that this is not the case, is the fault of the public itself, and not of the author, publisher, or any other party.
It is evident that the only way by which books may be made cheap, is by an extended sale--and ”_Nicholas Nickleby_”, and other works of that description, have proved that a cheap work will have an extended sale-- always provided it is a really good one.
But it is impossible to break through the present arrangements which confine the sale of books, unless the public themselves will take it in hand--if they choose to exert themselves, the low prices may be firmly established with equal benefit to all parties, and with an immense increase in the consumption of paper. To prove that any attempt on the part of an author or publisher will not succeed unaided, it was but a few months ago, that Mr Bentley made the trial, and published the three volumes at one guinea; but he did not sell one copy more--the clubs and libraries took the usual number, and he was compelled to raise his price. The rapid sale of the Standard Novels, which have been read over and over again, when published at the price of five s.h.i.+llings, is another proof that the public has no objection to purchase when the price is within its means.
I can see but one way by which this great desideratum is to be effected; which is, by the public insuring by subscription any publisher or bookseller from loss, provided he delivers the works at the reduced price. At present, one copy of a book may be said to serve for thirty people at least; but say that it serves for ten, or rather say that you could obtain five thousand, or even a less number, of people to put down their names as subscribers to all new works written by certain named authors, which should be published at the reduced price of ten s.h.i.+llings per copy. Let us see the result.