LITERATURE AXD LITERARY PROGRESS IX 1864. 



473 



Anne Bowman, Rev. J. A. Collier, Anna 

 Cooke, Mrs. Carey Buck, Catharine M. Trow- 

 bridge, and Adolphe Monod two each. Of the 

 authors of a single juvenile book published dur- 

 ing the year, the following were the principal : 

 Mrs. Bradley, Rev. John W. Brown, Mary J. 

 Hoffman, Sarah A. Myers, Rose Morton, Rev. 

 J. S. Sewall, Rev. O. Witherspoon, Samuel 

 Croxall, Mrs. S. B. Drake, Chauucey Giles, Ed- 

 ward Payson Hammond, Caroline E. Kelly, 

 'Robert Merry," Mrs. Einilv C. Pearson. Mrs. 

 H. B. Goodwin, "Cousin Sarah," Helen R. 

 Cutler, Ezra M. Hunt. M. D., Mrs. II. C. Knight, 

 Mrs. C. M. Kirkland, Mrs. Mary A. Denison, 

 Jesse Thornton, Rev. A. R. Baker, Mrs. Caro- 

 line L. Blake, Rev. O. B. Frothingham. Rev. 

 Asa Bullard. Miss M. E. Dodge, James Grant, 

 Rev. W. K. Tweedie, "Brother Philippe," Ma- 

 rian Butler, Rev. Horatius Bonar, Gustav 

 Xieritz, Rev. A. A. E. Taylor, J. Thomas War- 

 ren, Mrs. Eanny I. Burge Smith, Rev. Joseph 

 II. Jones, D. D., Thomas Miller (the Basket 

 Maker), Thomas Day, Eanny Fern, X. Haw- 

 thorne, William Dalton, Dr. Harley. Rev. S. 

 M. Haskins, Horatio Alger, John C. Geikie, R. 

 H. Stoddard, Mrs. L. C. TutbilL, Major Penni- 

 man, " Alfred Oldfellow." "Aunt Annie," J.H. 

 Langille, Fanny Fuller, Miss Mary S. Chapman, 

 Maria H. Bulfinch, Mary Granger Chase, Jean 

 Ingelow, Julia Leonard, Frederick Howard 

 "Wines. 



The class of ous Books is small 



(only 19), and does not offer any publications 

 worthy of note. 



Under the head of Works of Fiction, we 

 have alluded to the cheaper classes of these 

 works in paper binding. The issue of one 

 class of these, known as the "Dime Litera- 

 ture," has become a marked feature in the pub- 

 lishing enterprises of the day. Originating in 

 1859 with the house of Beadle & Co., who 

 commenced in a small way the publication of 

 fictions of one hundred pages large 16mo, at 

 the retail price of a dime, it has extended and 

 amplified until the issues of these books are 

 reckoned by millions ; and the issues of the 

 "Dime Press" include not only fictions, of 

 which, in all, perhaps one hundred and fifty 

 different works have been published, but biog- 

 raphies, histories, school text-books, hand- 

 books, manuals on different branches of art, 

 industry, and behavior, and collections of songs 

 and poetry. Five or six different houses have 

 first and last entered upon this department of 

 publishing, but the issues of the others have 

 been small as compared with that of the 

 originators of the business, Messrs. Beadle & 

 Co., whose aggregate sales from 1859 to May, 

 1865, amounted- to 6,655,450 volumes, of which 

 4,121,500 were novels; 1,633,700 songs; hand- 

 books and manuals, 525,000 ; biographies, 225,- 

 000 ; border tales, &c., 480,250. Of the nov- 

 els published in this series, nearly all have been 

 American in authorship and subject ; and it may 

 be said to the honor of the publishers, that 

 there is not one of them which is in the least 



degree exceptionable in moral tone. Some of 

 them may rank higher than others in literary 

 merit, but all are alike free from any immoral 

 tendency. The same high moral character ex- 

 tends to all their publications. The sales of 

 single novels range from 35,000 to 80,000 

 copies, and other of their books have greatly 

 surpassed this their "Dime Song Book, Xo. 

 1," reaching a sale of more than 350,000 copies, 

 and the dime edition of "The National Tax 

 Law ; ' of over 200,000 copies. A Dime j ub- 

 lishing house lias been established in London, 

 and over forty of the Dime novels republished 

 there. The large sales of these books are made 

 in all parts of the country, the demand for them 

 in the army being very large. 



The publications of the other cheap publish- 

 ing houses, which range in price from twenty- 

 live to seventy- five cents, are with but few ex- 

 ceptions reputable in their character. Some of 

 them are sensational, and thus gratify a morbid 

 taste ; but the number of really vicious novels 

 is far smaller than a few years ago, and most 

 of the cheaper novels of this class are reprints 

 of English novels of high moral tone, and re- 

 spectable ability. Indeed, a poor English novel 

 will not generally repay the cost of printing. 



In periodical literature, the year 1864 added 

 but little to our stock of magazines and jour- 

 nals. The special magazines, The United States 

 Service Magazine, and the American Educa- 

 tional Monthly, which though first issued re- 

 ally in December 1863, nominally commenced 

 their existence with the year 1864, have been 

 already noticed. There were several magazines 

 projected during the year, but none we believe 

 issued till just at its close, when " Our Young 

 Folks," a magazine for youth, made its appear- 

 ance in Boston, and Gazlay's Pacific Monthly, 

 a magazine having in view the promotion of 

 the literary interests of the Pacific States, was 

 issued in Xew York. Both give good promise 

 of sui ;< 



The extremely high price of paper and print- 

 1ng, and binding, still operate as a check on 

 literary enterprise, and prevent the undertaking 

 of publications which under other circumstan- 

 ces might be attempted ; but with the close of 

 the war the business is likely to attain to a 

 higher degree of prosperity. 



The number of publications in England, in 

 1864, as stated in the London Literary Gazette, 

 was 3,553, including new editions and pam- 

 phlets. Of these there were of Religious Works, 

 715; Biography and History; 233, Geography, 

 Topography, and Books of Travel, 151 ; Fiction, 

 including Juvenile Works, 842 ; Poetry and 

 General Literature, 565 ; Annuals and Xew 

 Serials, 166; Law and Parliamentary Works, 

 79; Medicine and Surgery, 124; Foreign Phi- 

 lology, including Translations, 132 ; English 

 Philology and Education, 177 ; Xaval, Military, 

 and Engineering Works, 32; Political Works, 

 56 ; Agriculture, Horticulture, and Field Sports, 

 46; Art, Architecture, tc., 52; Commercial, 

 41 ; Scientific Works, 122. 



