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 shillings
per copy. Let us see the result.

A ten shilling work under such auspices would be delivered to the trade
at eight shillings.

The value of the five thousand copies to the publisher would be 2,000
shillings 0 shillings.

The expenses of printing and paper would be reduced to about 3 shillings
a copy, which would be 750 pounds.

Advertising, as before, 100 pounds.

Extra 1 shilling 3 pence, 4 shillings, 5 shillings, about 16 pounds,
subtotal 866 pounds.

Leaving a profit for author and publisher of 1,134 pounds 0 shillings.

Whereas, in the printing of a thousand copies, the profits of author 350
pounds, and of publisher 277 pounds 5 shillings, equalled only 627
pounds 5 shillings.

Extra profit to author and publisher 506 pounds 15 shillings.

Here the public would gain, the author would gain, and the publisher
would gain; nor would any party lose; the profits of the trade would not
be quite so great, being 500 pounds, instead of 575 pounds; but it must
be remembered, that there are many who, not being subscribers, would
purchase the book as soon as they found that it was approved of--indeed,
there is no saying to what extent the sale might prove to be.

If any one publisher sold books at this price, the effect would be of
reducing the price of all publications, for either the authors must
apply to the cheap publisher, or the other publishers sell at the same
rate, or they would not sell at all. Book-clubs and circulating
libraries would then rapidly break up, and we should obtain the great
desideratum of cheap literature.

And now that I have made my statement, what will be the consequence?
Why, people will say, "that's all very well, all very true"--and nobody
will take the trouble--the consequence is, that the public will go on,
paying through the nose as before--and if so, let it not grumble; as it
has no one to thank but itself for it. [See Note 4.]

The paper and printing in America is, generally speaking, so very
inferior, that the books are really not worth binding, and are torn up
or thrown away after they are read--not that they cannot print well; for
at Boston particularly they turn out ve