448 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



nitz's would be at once put out, and it is contended that this, though it 

 might be a loss to the author, would be a benefit to the public ? 



A, Then I take it that the proposal really amounts to this : that 

 whereas, at present, the poorer class of readers are inconvenienced by 

 having to wait for a cheap edition a certain number of years, they shall, 

 by this arrangement, be advantaged by having a cheap edition forth- 

 with ; which is to say that people with smaller amounts of money shall 

 have no disadvantages from their smaller amounts of money. It is 

 communistic practically — it is simply equalizing the advantages of 

 wealth and poverty. 



Q. {Chairman). Then we may assume that in your opinion the 

 royalty system would not operate in cheapening books in the long run ? 



A. I think that in the first place, supposing it should act in the man- 

 ner intended, by producing rival editions, it would act in cheapening 

 just that class of books which it would be a mischief to cheapen. I 

 have already intimated, in a previous reply, that the alleged advantage 

 of cheapening books is to be taken with a qualification ; inasmuch as 

 there is a cheapening which is beneficial and a cheapening which is in- 

 jurious. And I have got, I think, pretty clear evidence that the class 

 of books cheapened would be a class which it is undesirable to cheapen. 

 Being one of the committee of the London Library, I have some facili- 

 ties for obtaining evidence with regard to the circulation of various 

 classes of books ; and I have got the librarian to draw me up what he 

 entitles — "Recorded circulation of the following books during the three 

 years following their introduction into the London Library." Here, in 

 the first place, is a book of science — Lyell's " Principles of Geology " ; 

 that went out twenty-eight times. Here, on the other hand, is a sen- 

 sational book — Dixon's " Spiritual Wives " ; that went out orfe hundred 

 and twenty times. Here, again, is a highly instructive book — Maine's 

 " Ancient Law " ; that went out twenty-nine times. Here is a book of 

 tittle-tattle about old times — " Her Majesty's Tower " ; that went out 

 one hundred and twenty-seven times. Here, again, is another book of 

 valuable inquiry — Lecky's " European Morals " ; that went out twenty- 

 three times. Here is a book of gossip — Crabb Robinson's " Diary " ; 

 that went out one hundred and fifty-four times. Lecky's "History of 

 Rationalism " went out thirteen times ; Greville's " Memoirs " went out 

 one hundred and sixteen times. Herschel's "Astronomy" went out 

 twenty-five times ; Jesse's " George IH." went out sixty-seven times. 

 I have added together these contrasted results, and the grave, instruc- 

 tive books, taken altogether, number one hundred and eighteen issues, 

 while the sensational and gossiping books number five hundred and 

 eighty-four issues; that is to say, more than five times the number 

 of issues. Now, the London library is, among circulating libraries at 

 least, the one which is of all the highest in respect of the quality of 

 its readers : it is the library of the elite of London. If, then, we see 

 that there go out to these readers five times as many of these books 



