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    Ma* 8,1852.] THE LEADER. 433 ¦ ¦ . ".. -...

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    THE BOOKSELLING QUESTION. Me, Chables Di...

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    Politics At The Feast Of Art. Art Entert...

    wer to provide--a more suitable space for their aceom-^' A / very pretty duel came off on . the same subject between '' the Chancellor of the Exchequer and the late premier , who , though fencing tin neutral ground , and With foils carefully padded , managed to make pretty work of it , so that " no love was lost . The whole scene is interesting ad politics in undress , and making holiday Tipon a neutral ground . The Pbesedent said he had a toast to propose , which he was sure they would all hear with the greatest leasure . He begged to propose tp them " the Health of the Bight Hon . Benjamin Disraeli ( cheers )> and the interests of Literature so far as they might be found compatible with the usual views of a Chancellor of the Exchequer / ' ( Cheers and laughter . )

    The Chancellob of the Exchequer , who was received with cheers and applause , after expressing his deep sense of the high honour , said— % "My name has been referred to by the noble lord who ha 3 previouslyaddressed you ; but it was in a capacity less endear ing than that of a member of the republic of letters , f Gheers and laughter . ) I can assure my noble friend , that any appeal made tome in my official capacity to advance the arts , will always find a ready sympathy in my breast ; but I beg to remind my noble friend and the company I hare now the gratification of addressing , that as regards the task I attempt to fulfil , the hope so long indulged in , rtiat art may find a habitation worthy of its lofty mission ,

    is one full of difficulties , and that I must look for aid and symp athy to other quarters than I can command , before 1 can secure success . I cannot forget that , if the House of Commons be applied to for this great object , there sita there one who is distinguished for ability , and who iswhafclhave no claim to be—an eminent and successful statesman . ( Cheers . ) If I could be assisted by the noble lord the member for Iiondon ( cheers and laughter)—if he would but exert his authority in that house , on whatever side he may sit , I mi g , indeed , indul ge in a hope that I could succeed in fulfilling your expectations , and in achieving a great result which has been too long delayed , and to which my noble friend s 6 significantly alluded to-night . ( Cheers . ) I wn ] L indulge in . the hope from that reference that a palace may arise in this great metropolis , Worthy of the arts , worthy of the admiration of the foreigner , worthy

    of this mighty people , as the becoming emporium where all the genius-and inventions of man may be centered and celebrated ; but to accomplish that hope we must enlist all the sympathies of all the parties in the State ; and it is not to me- —one whom accident has placed in a position for which he is not qualified- ^—but to those whose long services and the evidences of whose great abilities have gained the confidence of the country / you must look , and if assisted by the noble lord the member for the City of London , then , indeed , the Royal Academy and this company may expect the accomplishment of that which , they have so long desired ; and , in the hope that the noble lord will so assist us , I will break through the etiquette of the evening , and , with your permission , [ will venture to propose to you ' The Health of the Noblo itord the member for the City of London- '" ( Great laughter , cheering , and applause . )

    The President , amid renewed laughter , said that he liad intended to propose that toast , but his intervention was unnecessary . He called on them to drink the health of Lord J . Russell . Lord J . RUSSELL . —Mr . President , I am extremely obliged to you and to this company for adoptingand sanctioning the toast which the Chancellor of the ^ Exchequer has somewhat irregularly proposed . ( Cheers and laughter . ) I thoug ht I was safe from being called on in the course of this evening , because I remembered thai last year , you said , as the Lord Mayor of London was not present , you expected me to return thanks for him , and , as I saw the lord Mayor was presont this evening , I imagined I should bo excused . ( Laughter and cheers . ) With respect to the allusions

    the Chancellor of tho Exchequer has madb , whotnor thoy wore in jest or earnest , or in both ( laughter ) , my efforts shall bo used to provido a better habitation for tho Royal Acadomy . ( Cheers . ) No one knows bettor than tlio President himself that wo woro , as all Governments will bo , afraid of taking the responsibility of fixing on a site for tho building . Wo know , if it wero p laced in tho middle of tho town , wo should bo told tho pictures would » Q spoiled by tho smoko , and dust , and crowds of idlo boys jj aughtor ) , and that if it were placed at some distanco from tho city we should bo told wo wore putting thorn wlioro the people could not reach thorn , and tho objects of art would bo boyond thoir power to visit . In this difficulty wo called on you to fix a site , and a commission was appointed , |> iu ; neither tho Goveramont nor tho commission , as it mpponod , assisted oaob . other in fixinir on tho now sito da

    ughter ) , and so nothing was done . It is a difficult matter to give satisfaction in bucIi a case , and it will take winei to docido upon tho boat course , but I hopo wo may at ia 8 t bo successful . I am glad to hear from my noblo friond ™ o Kavl of Derby tho sontimont to which I shall cortainly roi muy respond , that differences of politics do not inter-™ P or dl » eolve privftto friendships . ( Loud choors . ) lj ventured last year to obflervo that it was remarkable Jiow many porsona eminent in tho arts had sucooodod in litoliv f tllat w 0 liad no better works than those written Z p "• wll ° afc tho same timo woro at tho head of thoir in ? !? n ; hnt 1 Bfcft (; od Hiafc x ha ( 1 not romarkod that In ,. ?> hoso

    m the fine arts- as he has done in literature , and , as I must aay , he has done in political science . ( Great laughter and cheering . ) These speeches were the salient points of the evening ' s proceedings . The Lord Mayor said a few words about the wonderful desire which possessed the corporation for the improvement of the city . Lord Eosse acknowledged the Royal Society , and Lord Mahon the Society of Antiquaries . Professor Owen , thanking for the Society of Arts , pronounced a kind of funeral ser-, mon over the Great Exhibition and the vanishing build' ing : and Lord Lansdowne said some graceful words on behalf of the British Institution . The last toast of

    the evening was , " The Patrons of Art , " and those who opened their galleries to the student and the public last year . This was appropriately acknowledged by the Earl of Ellesmere . He regretted that the Duke of Northumberland and the Marquis of Westminster had made their escape , and left him to return thanks . If he had , at scarcely any inconvenience to himself , done that Which must have been much more inconvenient to others , and bad thrown open his gallery , he and they had

    found their best reward in seeing on those Avails ample proof that good use bad been made of such opportunities , and that there were men who , without being guilty of servile imitation , could contribute to the pleasure of those who , without the power to invent , bad still the ability to admire and appreciate . ( Hear . ) Speaking in the character of a keeper of those " old lamps , " he could assure them it would be bis study and gratification to afford to those who desired to catch from them some sparks of the ancient fire every facility they could wish . ( Loud cheers . ) The company soon after rose ; and in a bustle of apparelling and cSmplirnents departed .

    Ma* 8,1852.] The Leader. 433 ¦ ¦ . ".. -...

    Ma * 8 , 1852 . ] THE LEADER . 433 ¦ ¦ . " .. - ' ¦ ., ; ,:, ' .:: ¦ '¦'¦ - •¦ ¦ - ¦¦ - - ; - •• - •"' - * - * " ¦ " i ¦ Ti' > rrfc-. Mi & . affiw . rtf— ¦ - . ¦¦¦•¦ y- ¦¦ - ¦'¦ -.- ¦ . . - ¦ . | . ¦ . . .... . ¦ -. ; . - . ¦ . ¦' , .... ¦; ,-. '¦ . . . , . r y . . / . - ¦ - ¦ . - - ¦'¦ " j- ¦¦¦ - . ¦ . ¦¦ - . . - . . ¦ ¦ . ; . ¦ " . ¦¦ . ' .. "

    The Bookselling Question. Me, Chables Di...

    THE BOOKSELLING QUESTION . Me , Chables Dickens presided over a meeting of booksellers , men of letters , and others , who share the interest taken in the pending dispute between the combination of booksellers and the free-traders . Letters were read from the \ xnder .-written gentlemen , regretting that they could not attend , and expressing general concurrence in the views of the free-traders : —Mr . Cobden , M . P ., Mr . Thomas Carlyle , Mr . John Stuart Mill , Professor de Morgan , Mr . Henry Cole , Mr . James Wilson , M . P ., Mr . W . J . ^ Fox , M . P ., Mr . George Combe , Mr . J . R . M'Culloch , Mrs W . E . Gladstone , M . P ., Mr . R . Chambers , of Edinburgh , Mr . Leigh Hunt , Mr . R . W . Mackay , Mr . A . D . Rich , Mr . R . W . Proctor , Dr . Pereira , and others . Mr . Carlyle ' s letter ran as follows

    >" Chelsea , May 3 , 1852 . " Sib , —Unluckily I shall not be able to attend your mcetr ing on Tuesday evening , but I can have no hesitation in testifying my concurrence with the object of it , which I understand , in brief , to be free-trade in books , or the first step in a course leading straight towards that . Freetrade in respect of books , and indeed of most other objects , is by no means the ultimatum one aspires to , or the perfect condition that will satisfy the world ' s want in the matter ; very far from that in many cases ; and in tho case of literature , farther than in any other whatsoever . But surely , in all cases , and in that of literaturo too , free-trade is bettor than trade unjustly' crippled by monopolies which

    are merely blind and greedy ; in present circumstances , free-trade were a clear improvement ; and moreover , in tho critical disposition of tho world , it is a first stage through which all faulty things must pass , and only boyond and aftor trial of which can any progress that will prove true and lasting bo looked for . For tho rest , I fear there are few branches of human industry—and most clearly literature is not one of them—in . which tlio shopkeeper spirit ( so wo may calllt for tho sake of definition ) will suffice to regulate ' p roduction and distribution' according to the world ' s real want and interest : in rogard to very many thero is perpetually needed a generous morchant spirit nctivo

    ( whioh it may bo ioarcd iroo-trado ana competition will not much tond to dovelop among us ) : and in rngard to some , thoro is needed a spirit higher than any kind of morchandiso , and not looking to profit and loss for advico at all . Now , cortainly , boyond all other objects , litoraturo in its higher forms bolongs to this lattor class ; to those two lattor classes it bolongs in all forms of it that havo any valuo to mankind ; for tho moro shopkeeper spirit , looking only to tho visible vicinity , and sharponou into evov grotitor eagerness for immediate returns , is umitton with otornal incompetence in ev en tho finance of litoraturo , and can do no good whatever thoro that would not otherwise- bo dono , and does immensities of mischief thoro which perhaps

    might othorwiso remain undone . " All this is truo oven of tho financo of litoraturo : —and , alas I literaturo has many elements bosidos tho financial , and far moro important to it than the financial ; in rogard to all of which it would bo gladly cease to bo anarchic , and become well ordorod , and well governed , i f it only could . Truly , to considor how society at p resent stands related to litoraturo may well fill tho thinking man with astonishment , with anxiety , almost with terror . Tho dutios of conditionof tho

    society towards litoraturo in those- now s world aro becoming groat , vital , inexpressibly intricate ) , little capablo of boing done or understood at presont , but all-important to bo understood and dono , if society ^ will continue to oxisfc with it , and it along with society . From the hlghost businoss of spiritual culture and tho most naorod interests of mon , down to tho lowest economic and ephemeral concerns whore ' iiroo press' rulon flupromo , Hocioty may soe iteolf , with all its ( sovereignties and parliamonta , depending on the thing it calls litoraturo , and bound , under incalculable ponaftiea , to yory many dutioa in rogard

    to that ! --of which duties , I perceive , finance alone , and free trade alone , will by no means be found to be the same . But such considerations lie far beyond bur present business , and must not be more than alluded to here . " What alone concerns us here is to remark that the present system of book publishing discharges none of these duties , less and less makes even the appearance of discharging them ; and indeed as I believe is , by the nature of the case , incapable of ever in any , perceptible degree dis ' chai'ging any of them in the times that now are . A century ago , there was in the bookselling-guild—if never any royalty of spirit , as how could such be looked for there r—yet a spirit of solid merchanthood , which had its value in

    regard to the prosaic facts of literature , and is ever to be thankfully remembered there . Of this solid merchant spirit , if we take the victualling and furnishing of such an enterprise as Samuel Johnson ' s English Dictionary for its English , feat ( as perliaps we justly may ) , and many a Memoires , Encyclopedia JBritannica , & c , in this country and in others for its lower , we most gratefully admit the real usefulness , respectability , and merit to the world . But in later times , owing to many causes which liave been active , not on the book guild alone , such spirit has long been diminishing , and has now as good as disappeared , without hope of resuscitation in that quarter . The spirit qf the book trade , it is mournfully evident , is that of modern

    trade generally , no better and no worse—a hand-to-mouth spirit , incapable of ever again paying for even a Johnson ' s Dictionary ; not what I can call a merchant spirit , but ( on the great or on the small scale ) a shopkeeper one . Such is the melancholy fact , so far as my experience and observation have taught me to form an opinion . If my vote is inquired of in the matter , I grieve to say , and am not conscious of either anger or of favour in saying , it is authentically this Which leads me—and , indeed , has long since led me—to infer that the publishing guild , taking large Wages for doing indispensable work , ana quite omitting to do it , is in no safe or lasting position before the public , and will prove incapable of standing , unless it can escape being

    inquired into . If the public itself ( as I by no means believe , or ever believed ) is adequate , by free trade or otherwise , to remunerate literature , the public ought to have at least a chance of trying to do it . The present system , by which above one-half of the selling price of a book (• from 55 to 65 per cent ., including advertisements' ) is paid over to a man or set of men , not who write it , or print it , or bind it , or make paper for it , but who show it across the counter and draw in the money , remained , to all who look at it in this point of view , one of the most astonishing ever seen in human commerce , and seems to me , in tliese days , destined to speedy abrogation when once the public has got eye on it .

    " My own interest in the business , I confess , is not of a lively nature ; nor ore my hopes for the world , from such a revolution , what they once might have been : but such is , and has long been , my view of the case now come in hand . No duty being done to literature but a shopkeeping one , let us jjave at least the eligible kind of shopkeeping—your 65 per cent , reduced gradually ( as we find it in America just now ) to 15 or to 10 , with books about half the price they now bcai , and with twenty times , or forty times , as many readers to them as now—after that , we shall sec . " In haste , I remain , sir , yours very truly , ( Signed ) " T . Caeltle . " John Chapman , Esq ., publisher , 142 , Strand . "

    Mr . John Chapman being invited to state the post * tion of the " underselling booksellers , " with regard to the Booksellers' Association , read a very long and able paper , setting forth the whole subject . He described the Association as ono which originated , and was organized with tho view of keeping the price of books artificially high . He met tho argument that free-trade would decrease tho number of booksellers , by asserting that unrestrained competition would accurately determine tlic number of booksellors necessary for tho efficient distribution of books , and that it was by no means certain any great reduction would follow from free-trade . Ho pointed out tho fact that there were

    many booksellers who did not , and would not belong " to tho Association , nnd many others who had been coerced into joining it . He showed that ono at least of tho great monopolist booksellers undersold in his dealings with that portion of tho trade intimately connected with him , which ho called an " unconscious inconsistency" on tho part of Mr . Murray . On tho whole , what lie contondod for was , that " every author and every publisher should bo nblo to fix his own conditions of sale . " Ho justified this by referring to tho known laws of commerce , which prove that the niaintonanco of a fixed price is impossible , unless by mount * of nn external forco , which invariably deadens the trade to which it is applied .

    Tho rest of tho proceeeings consisted in tho moving of certain resolutions - , Mr . Babbugo moved , and Mr . Robert Hell seconded , the ilrst : — " Tho principles of Freo-trado having now boon established by experience , us . well aB by argument , it in the )]> inionof this mooting that thoy ought to bo applied to books an to all other articles of commerce . " This wub opposed by Mr . Trolawnoy Saunders , on tho ground that tho obnoxious regulations wero iniondod to protect tho profits of tho retailor from the competition of tho largo publinher , nnd that Freo-trado would rcduoo those profits . Mr . Willis , a retailer , followed in tho Haino track , only ho \ iscd stronger language . Tho meeting , ho Haid " wan called to crush booksellers' profits . " ( Cries of " No , no . " ) It was

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), May 8, 1852, page 5, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_08051852/page/5/