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    S|fc iSi *&$ ^ e Fu$^^ 1077 ?. '

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    THE 'KNOCK-OUT' QUESTION. In our issue o...

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• Transcript

  • Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.

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    &>A\T 3[Otttng&

    I Macgwire & Ferry , St . Giles Street , Ijbrthampton ( 600 vols . ) , on the 23 rd inst .

    Messrs . Debenham , of 80 Cheapside , will [ sell books on the 26 th and 27 th inst .

    We have received the catalogue of the stock will of Mr be . s Ellis old b , which auction ; as b previousl Messrs . y Sotheb announced in y y y

    November . It is , as might be expected , a very , fine collectionrich notably in books relating

    to America . , One lot consists of 468 fugitive tractspamphlets & cprinted in different

    American , towns , and vill , ages , between 1720 and 1810 . Most of them are of great rarity

    and interest . The whole forms 26 volumes . Among other books of interest are Raphe Ham «/ r ' s ' Virginia , ' 1615 , Las Casas' ' The

    Spanish Colonie ' ( West Indies ) , 1583 ( rare , fine copy ) . Under Shakspeare we find described two copies of the first foliotwo of the

    second , and one of the fourth , all in good condition . Many very lovely Books of Hours , manuscriptsand other rarities are scattered

    , through the catalogue . Here we have not space to describe them , but hope to give a more detailed account of this remarkable

    ' stock' in our next issue .

    — _£ > m

    S|Fc Isi *&$ ^ E Fu$^^ 1077 ?. '

    S | fc _iSi _*& $ _^ _Fu _$ _^^ 1077 ? . '

    The 'Knock-Out' Question. In Our Issue O...

    THE 'KNOCK-OUT' QUESTION . In our issue of August 15 under the head of

    , ' Sale Jottings / we made a few remarks on the 'Knock-out , ' giving as our opinion that there was something at least to be said on the side of the

    booksellers who unite in that combination . To Mr . Smalley , the London correspondent of the New York Tribunethis has seemingly given great offence

    quarter and in , his of vi paper olent invective he publishes against a the column Publishers and a , Circular and the London trade generally . Indeed ,

    so heated does he become that we are afraid Mr . Smalley has permitted his zeal to overcome his discretion . First of allhe that the Publishers *

    , says of Circular the worst has ini heen quities ' consp of icuous the publishing in defence trade of' / som and e adds that we now seem to have turned our

    attention to champion the cause of our fellow-sinners , the iniquities booksellers ' of the and publishing bookbuyers trade . What are we the are * some wors - t

    declare _what at that a loss they to are remember a Transatlantic , but gro many wth persons . his remarks We are on _^ tempted what he to calls think the from ' Black the Band tone / that of

    Mr . Smalley does not know the full bearings of the _& question rfrom about the Eng which lish knock he is writing -out being . B known y the way as , the so Black

    heard outside Band , the Paris term . Our is one impression that is seldom after carefull if ever y _fading either hoaxed Mr . Smalley led ' s articl much e is astray that he by has been

    who did not or know very what he was talking someone about . almos A want t of knowledge other line of of his the long facts article is apparent We can in

    every . refe too _excuse rred or three Mr to . Smalley but times later Messrs and the . blame writer Puttish the & printe Simpson in an r autho when are - ; says

    to received ri tative know by the manner book term -auctioneers that of 12 _J for per two selling cent of , . the is We the leading happen sum

    s one or n ouses—as , in fact , do nearly all our readers—and • _Wqy ondent at least of know the New how far York on this Tribune point has the cor- e _esp

    _^ _ftray . gon

    The 'Knock-Out' Question. In Our Issue O...

    But it is on matters connected with the 'knockout ' that he has gone furthest wrong . Does Mr .

    Smalley know that at Messrs . Sotheby ' s and Messrs . Puttick would generall _' s a * knock be -out useless ' seldom simp l ccurs from , and the , amount in fact , I I

    of outside competition y that , is always y present ? If the operations of the ' family' were confined to those two rooms , despite the many thousands of

    pounds badlindeed ' worth . of books sold they would fare very T y henagainMr . Smalley writes patheticall

    about the , widow , and the orphan , and gives a highly y - coloured account of a firm which has agents all over England . According to the writerwhen

    , anyone firm sends who has treats direct a decent direct to London library and at , down dies once , the goes with bookseller the the buyer executors ' s of agent the

    buys , the books for a trifle , sells them again in London , , and nets the ' immense profits . ' Who has been

    telling London you trade this , has , Mr agents . Smalley all over ? Who the , king among dom the ' ? We are afraid that when all these people ' s salaries

    have been paid , the handsome profits would have dwi _however ndled , to is something otherwise very somewhat small indeed ludicrous . . The Fancy idea , ,

    O ye owners of libraries , being watched for any signs of approaching dissolution by a sort of detective whose only wish is your death ! But the plot is

    not complete . Why did not Mr . Smalley ' s informant mention that the firm spoken of employs a number of bravos whose duty is to quietly make away with

    anyone who possesses over _£ 500 worth of books , so that they may buy and sell them again ? This is as true as the rest of the tale , anyhow .

    In spite of the spirit which is by Mr . Smalley attributed to us , we must distinctly state that with many of the dealings of the ' knock-out' we

    have no sympathy whatever . Some individuals have been known to intimidate others from bidding , and by individuals various underhand tricksno doubthave

    been done . For these there is a remedy , . We wish , it to be distinctly understood that while certainly not encouraging any breaking of the law , or unfair

    treatment of other bidders by the knock-out , we give as our opinion , and in doing so merely reiterate what we have before remarkedthat there is certainl

    something to be said on the side , of the trade . y Mr . Smalley is very angry indeed with the whole of the English book trade , but angry people

    sometimes make themselves ridiculous , and certainly should be well equipped and armoured before they set out to redress the wrongs of humanity . At the

    end of- Mr . Smalley ' s _article there is a Parthian shot at Mr . Quaritch . On a former occasion Mr . Quaritch defended himself against something said

    remarks by this cri , no tic , doubt and if he he will chooses again to tak defend e notice his of deeds his

    quite as ably and successfully as before .

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    On September 29 , Vincent Brooks , of Gate StreetLincoln ' s Innin his seventieth year .

    Many , of our readers will , be sorry to read this announcementfor few men have been better

    known in the , publishing world than Mr . Vincent Brooks , and very few will be more

    deep ly was regretted the son . of John Brooks , a stationer ,

    of 421 Oxford Street , where Vincent was born on Oct . 251815 . John Brooks was also , a publisher of , booksof a political nature

    which were at that time , _considered to be of , an advanced character . When the son left ? y

    i' ¦ ' ' ' ' ' ' . '' , i . ' . ; " i i _n —~ - _^ D _^ > ¦ '> .,. ¦ . ' _wl _^ _T <' ' . ' i" 7

• Citation
  • Publishers’ Circular (1880-1890), Oct. 15, 1885, page 1077, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/pc/issues/tec_15101885/page/17/