At certain seasons of the year these
"commercial travellers," as they prefer to be titled, seem to drift
in ten or a dozen at a time. They will often be found waiting in line
outside the buyer's office, each taking his turn. Each will have from
two to ten new books, all to be ready within the next two weeks.

I have said that the bookseller of to-day has but little time to read
about the volumes that are forthcoming. Therefore, most of the new
books are first brought to his attention by the salesmen who come to
solicit orders. Every book must be given some consideration; and in
most cases some quantity of it must be ordered. It may be five copies
or it may be five thousand. To the inexperienced it is difficult to
explain the precise considerations that govern the amount of the
order. Here is where the strain comes on the buyer; for the
responsibility lies with him. Yet he must decide without having read a
single page; and he must decide quickly--in a few minutes. Many times
he places an order without having seen the completed book at all. Some
pages of the text, a half-dozen illustrations, and the outside cover
are perhaps presented to him. Even the fact that the publisher has had
the manuscript read by three or four experts before deciding to
publish, does not always help him. There are many miscalculations on
the part of both buyer and publisher.

But, you insist, how does a buyer form a judgment of the number of
copies to buy if he does not read the book? There are many things to
guide him. There is the popularity of the author to be considered;
the subject of the book; the mechanical features; the price; and the
publisher's name and standing. If it is an author's first book the
risk is great. If both the author and publisher are new the risk is
still greater. For the amount of advertising that such a publisher is
likely to do is an unknown quantity. The buyer can estimate pretty
closely on the advertising probabilities of well-established firms; he
knows what they are accustomed to do in that line.

In the reminiscences of a bookseller who began business more than
seventy years ago, there is a letter from his mother written in 1844,
from which the following is an excerpt:--

"I will ask you once more to consider my plea regarding the policy and
character of some portion of your business. The selecting of books for
a reading community is a peculiar responsibility; and if the matter
therein contained be good in it