Publishers’ Circular (1880-1890), 15th February 1886, Edition 1 of 1, Page 196, ROUTLEDGE'S WORLD LIBRARY.

EDITED BY THE Rev . HUGH REGINALD HAWEIS , M . A . 'Syllables govern the World/—John Seldef . ' riHlHEItE * s a sea telow the sea / said a distinguished American man of letters to me not long ago . I He meant the reading -woHd on the surface of society is nothing when compared with the reading The -world success beneath of every / the cheap surface and . well-chosen series proves the truth of this , and the hungry ocean of readers still cries for more . Good books are at present borrowed , begged , and , too often , wearily waited for by those who cannot afford Messrs to buy . G them -eorge . Routxedge & Sons , ini f Routledge ' s "World Library , ' purpose to issue such books at Zd . apiece in paper covers , and in cloth Qd . Each , volume—not too large for the pocket , not too small for the shelf—will consist of 160 pp . royal 16 mo ., printed in good clear type on clear white paper . The Editor will keep his eye on famous writers , ancient and modern , dealing with stirring , profitable , instructive , and recreative subjects , Biographies , Travels , chapters on Social Science , Political Economy , History , Fiction , Poetry , and the Drama . His objects are to place within everyone ' s reach what everyone ought to know ; to circulate the works of great writers , or portions of books which should be familiar in our mouths as household words : to provide persons of small leisure with select matter which they will peruse with eagerness , and rise from without feeling that they have wasted their time . To give such variety that everyone who takes in the series for a year , at a cost of a few shillings , will have on his shelf 24 volumes , differing in all but this , that the work will not willingly let any one of them die . To make the price of each volume so low that none need borrow it , everyone being tempted to buy it , and nobody to steal it ! I believe that , with a wide extension of the franchise , the time has arrived for the best books to be offered to a large class hitherto almost untouched by such literature . I am not one of those who ' wish to rob the poor man of his beer , ' but I cannot help thinking that should this fly-leaf nutter down upon the frugal board at the right time , there may be many who would be willing to substitute a glass of water for a glass of beer twice a month in order to secure a Life of Nelson , Garibaldi , De Foe ' s Plague of London , Scott ' s Marmion , or Goethe ' s Faust . Such a sacrifice would leave the body not one whit the poorer , and the mind richer for ever . The books Jibout to be offered to the million are the best—those ' without which no gentleman ' s library is complete . ' Walter Crane designs the cover—for tbe best art is worthy to adorn the best literature . * Do the people care for eitlirr ? ' You might as well ask , 'Do the people care for turtle soup ? ' The answer is , ' Of course they do when they can get it . ' There is no greater mistake than to try to write and publish down to the people . Give the people something to work up to . Tennyson says , ' We needs must love the highest when we see it . ' Place the highest within everyone ' s reach , and then there will be something for everyone to work up to . As I looked down the other day , from the upper deck of a large Atlantic steamer , at the crowd of steerage passengers , and marked how most of them were huddled together hoar . after hour doing nothing , others crowding round the bar where beer was being doled out , and just a few reading some greasy " Houtledge As tract I sometimes or ' S newspaper "World steam out , Library I of thoug London ht ! , " and ' O No for notice emi a the stock grant miles of shi cheap p of should neat books small be without such streets as a and selection will think be issued of of them those in . thousands of bread-winners hurrying home nightly to growing-up families , I feel , inclined to say , ' Why should not eaehof you twice a month bring home a threepenny book in his pocket ? You would have to save less than a farthing a day to do it . ' When I think of the long , gossiping , yawning , gambling hours of grooms , valets , coachmen , and cabmen ; tho railway stations , conveniently provided with bookstalls , and crowded morning and evening with workmen ' s trains—tho winter evenings in thousands of villages , waysido . cottages , and scattered hamlets—the brief , but not always well-spent leisure of factory hands in the north—tho armies of commercial and uncommercial travellers with spare half-hours—tbe shop assistants—the city offices with their hangers-on—the Board Schools—tho village libraries—the Army and Navy—the barrack or the dockyard—again the vision of 'Roixtledge ' s W " orld Library' rises before mo . and I say , ' This , if not a complete cur < i for indolence and vice , may at least prove a powerful counter-charm . " Such , indeed , are but glimpses into the sea below the sea : its waters are at present unexplored — we seem , to sound and sound and find their depths fathomless * Houtledge ' 8 World Library * will heave the load once more ! February \ 886 . H . R . Haweis . _ __ Volume I ¦—GOETHE'S FAUST \ Translated by John Ansteii , LL . D . Will be ready on the lOfch February . TO BIC FOLLOWED BY ALLEN'S LIFE OF LORD NELSON On the " 28 th February .

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I96 The Publishers'circular Feb. 15,1886

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