REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT, I907. 37 



ways just mentioned were offered for sale at a cost only sufficient to cover 

 the expense of publication and transportation to purchasers. 



While the rules referred to have been justified by the necessity which con- 

 fronted the Institution at the time of announcing some mode of distribution, 

 many difficulties have been met in their application. The most serious of 

 these arise from the importunities of institutions and individuals claiming 

 rights to the free receipt of all our publications or to the free receipt of cer- 

 tain of them. No amount of courteous endeavor or painstaking research into 

 the relative merits of applicants for such favors can overcome these diffi- 

 culties. The simple fact is that the demand for a gratuitous distribution of 

 the publications of the Institution is much larger than its income can bear. 

 An attempt to meet this demand in a limited way by means of editions of 

 5,000 to 10,000 copies of our works would require, at the present rate of issue 

 of 25 to 30 volumes per year, a quarter to a half of our income. 



Some serious objections have developed also against the liberal terms 

 accorded to authors in the distribution of complimentary copies of their 

 works. One of these objections rests on the charge of favoritism brought 

 against the Institution by many who have not been thus complimented; a 

 second rests on the complaint of book-dealers who, having filed orders for 

 books published by the Institution, find their clients disposed to cancel such 

 orders by reason of the receipt of presentation copies ; while a third rests on 

 the fact that complimentary copies and copies for review are finding their 

 way unduly early to the shops of second-hand dealers. 



There appears to be but one way, alike equitable and effective, to check the 

 increasing importunities of individuals and institutions for the free receipt 

 of sets of our publications and to avoid the abuses which have arisen from 

 an attempt to deal generously with authors in the distribution of compliment- 

 ary copies. This way is to limit the omnia list to its present dimensions 

 and to cut down the authors' list to a minimum which will prevent those 

 abuses. The Executive Committee at its meeting of October 23, 1907, au- 

 thorized such a restriction of the omnia list and the President desires to 

 recommend in the near future a similar restriction of the presentation lists. 



As shown in the earlier parts of this report, the publications of the Insti- 

 tution have accumulated at a rapid rate. Assuming that something like a 

 stable state of affairs is now attained, it would appear 



Storage and Sale of ^j^^^ ^j^j^ ^^ appropriation of one-tenth of the annual 

 rubhcations. . i-r- r- 



mcome for publications an average of 25 volumes per 



year may be advantageously published. If these are issued in editions of 



1,000 copies each, books must be expected to accumulate at the rate of 



10,000 to 15,000 volumes per year for some years, unless sales increase more 



rapidly than during the past three years. 



