*^The Story of a Book«- 



THE AUTHOR'S LETTER. 



Syracu.sk, N. Y., December 22, 1897. 

 I have taken the liberty 0/ sending you by the American 

 Express to-day the type-written manuscript 0/ a story 0/ 

 American life which I have recently compiled, entitled 

 " DA VI D BARUM." I desire to submit this to you /or 

 examination, with a view to its publication, and trust you 

 will find it suited to your requirements. 

 Very truly yours, 



E. N. WESTCOTT. 



A LETTER FROM THE PUBLISHERS. 



October 13, 1898— (Three weeks after publication). 



To readers : Complaints have reached us this week 0/ 

 inability to obtain ''DAVID HARUM."" 



While we should not have published this remarkable 

 book unless we had believed in its success, we did r>ot 

 anticipate such prompt appreciation on the part of the 

 reading public. Talk of editions has been cheapened by the mdefiniteness of the term as it is com- 

 monly used, and we need only say that ivhile the first printing of ' ' DA I 'ID HAR UM " was as large 

 as three of the ' ' editions " sometimes referred to, our supply of the book was exhausted within two 

 weeks after publication. We took steps to supply this deficiency immediately, and a new stock of 

 ' ' DA VI D HAR UM " will be ready on Saturday. A considerable part of this stock has been antici- 

 pated by back orders, but we shall use every effort to tnake the supply of ''DAVID HARUM" 

 equal to the demand hereafter. Such prompt appreciation of a new and unknozun writer by critics 

 and the reading public is a fact to be noted with satisfaction. 



D. APPLETON A.\D COMPANY. 



A YEAR LATER— 310,000 TO OCTOBER 1, 1899. 



" The three hundred and tenth thousand of "DA VID HARUM" is now on the press, and the 

 vitality of this book is shoiun by the fact that on one day in the first week of October the orders 

 amounted to over 4,000 copies. It is also of interest to note one significant fact regarding the sales, 

 which is that the actual records show an increase. The average sale of " DA VID HARUM'" for 

 every business day in August was 1,306 copies, tvhile the average sale in September was 1,521 copies. 

 It is believed that no book of recent years has approached the record already made by " DA VID 

 HARUM," and the future, judging from present sales, promises even more remarkable results'" — 

 New York Times Saturday Review. 



THE ENGLISH VERDICT. 



London, September 30, 1899. 

 '• ' DA VID HARUM' has at last ' caught on: Until recently 

 there has bee?i little demand for it here. Undoubtedly the dialect 

 in which so much of it is written was a stumbling-block to the 

 English reader. But the merit of the book has told in spite of its 

 dialect and the absence of any extensive advertising. Possibly 

 the large number of Americans who have been in London during 

 the last three months has had its effect in creating a demand for the 

 book. When the bookstall keepers found that ' DA VID HARUM' 

 ■a<as constantly called for by Americans, they decided that it was 

 worth at least as prominent a place as they usually give to the 

 ■cvorks of Marie Corelli. At any rate, ivhatever the cause may be, 

 the book is now undeniably a popular one, and its sales are con- 

 st ant Iv increasing." — William S. Alden, in New York Times 

 Saturday Review. 



The 330th thousand of "DAVID HAfiUM" is being printed on October 16th, 



when this page goes to press, and the orders show that this number must 



be increased before the printing of this page is finished. 



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