because you will not only be an honor to the Society, but the Society
will be an honor to you."

Here my Treasurer friend produced a regular form of subscription
contract for a set of books; but it contained no clause about life
membership, or any other membership, and included no promise of
anything further than the delivery of the books.

The honor of such a vice-presidency being thrust upon me was indeed a
thrilling sensation, and the story was told in a fluent, cohesive, and
logical manner; so well, in fact, that had I not known in advance that
it was purely imaginary from beginning to end, I could scarcely have
avoided giving it full acceptance. But I had heard of the story
before, and although partially prepared, it staggered me surprisingly.
I afterwards learned that every one else canvassed by my interviewer
was equally offered one of the "three vice-presidencies."

There appears to be no defense for book clubs against these bogus
impersonations. The injured club, or society, can sustain no claim for
any special damage, because, as not offering its publications in the
open market, it actually suffers no ascertainable loss of patronage.
The principal damage results to those who are thus victimized in
permitting themselves to be deluded into the belief that they are
acquiring the valid editions of reputable clubs. When club
publications come into the open market they are usually picked up with
avidity by collectors, and they have thus grown into very general
favor among book-lovers. Indeed, the high esteem in which they have
come to be regarded offers a productive field for a few crafty
publishers to ply their wily designs in. The audacity of these
schemers carries them to such incredible measures that they sometimes
buy sheet-stock from reputable publishing houses, change the name of
the edition, and deliberately manufacture new titles on which they
print the name of some book club or society. These counterfeits are
sold to the unsuspecting book-buyer, who often imagines he has landed
a prize. Later, he is likely to become disillusioned. There can be no
doubt that the contemptible practice of thus mutilating and garbling
books should be defined as a felony and made punishable by fine or
imprisonment. Book-buyers, however, can in a measure help the
situation and protect themselves by not dealing with such people; they
should particularly remember that creditable book clubs _never_ employ
soliciting agents, and