7«4 



FARMERS' REGISTER 



[No. 12 



eA of in a former part ofihis journal, (at page 263. 

 Vol. Vf,) to which the reader is referred. It will 

 be enouiih here to show, and that will be done 

 clearly, that if sufficient demand of purchasers 

 existed, such as the northern publishers for souih- 

 ern supply now enjoy, that priniir.<r, and the man- 

 ufacture ol bonks, can be executed po cheaply 

 here, iw to furnish Iil<e work at prices far below 

 those now paid for the present and usual supplies, 

 and for which hundreds of thousands of dollars, 

 are every year paid li'om the south to the northern 

 publishers. 



Ii is not necessary to fatigue the reader with 

 explanatory details oi the business of printing, to 

 obtain his conviction, and ready admission, that 

 the cost ol pr\nting books will be diminished, and 

 itt a greatly increased ratio, according to the ex- 

 tent of the impression, or number of copies print- 

 ed for each edition. The "composition," or ar- 

 rangement ol' the types, and putting them in pro- 

 per manner on the press, in a small edition, 



Another still more striking comparison will be 

 offered with other northern publications which are 

 universally known, and which have been general- 

 ly supposed to be sold at a loss by the relijjious 

 and benevolent institution which furnishes them, 

 and to have reached the nc plus vltra of cheap- 

 ness. These are the religious tracts published by 

 the American Tract Society, in Philadelphia. 

 The standing price of these publications, in 

 pamphlet form, in small quantities, is 1 cent for 10 

 pages ; and by larue quantities, 1 cent for 15 

 paues. Similar work can be executed in editions 

 of 10,000 cojjies, under all the present disadvan- 

 tages of the printing business in Virginia, and 

 would aHbrd ample profit to the printer, at the still 

 lower price of 1 cent (or every 20 pages. When 

 it is considered that the heretofore limited and un- 

 certain demand lor printing in the south necessa- 

 rily makes the labor more costly to the undertaker, 

 and the best services and talent more difficult to 

 be obtained — and that with enough enlargement 



or number of copies, forms the far greater part of j of business, the expenses of printing could be as 



the whole cost. But that element of cost is pre- 

 cisely the same for an impression of 300, or lor 

 30,000 copies of the work. Therefore, the item 

 which makes the principal part of the expense ol 

 each copy of a stnail edition, sinks to the least, 

 and to almost nothing, in one of" a very large edi- 

 tion. Tlius, a volume, lor which the mere printiner 

 would cost 50 cents, if one of an edition of 500 

 copies, woidd be as well paid for at 5 cents, if 

 20,000 had been contracted for. 



For the purpose of makinij these statements 

 more clear to the readers who may be well inclin- 

 ed to aid in correitiiig the existing evil — and also 

 the more open to correction to any others who 

 may 1)6 disposed to question or deny the results — 

 pome particular estimates have been obtained 

 from a printer of the best qualifications, so as to 

 ehovv at how much lower prices the cheapest of 

 northern books might be printed here, providec' 

 there existed a certain demand fjr editions of 

 10,000 copies. 



One of the ordinary reading books now in com- 

 mon use in the English schools of Virginia, was 

 taken, at hazard, lor the purpose of estimate. It 

 is the ' Eclectic Reader' of 324 pages. It is plain 

 print, (without illustrations or engravings ;) an^ . 

 m plain binding, it sells in our bookstores, at retail, 

 at $1 the copy. This particular description of so 

 unimportant a book is deemed necessary, because, 

 nccording to usaije, it will scarcely rem lin in ex- 

 istence a year hence. !t will by that time h:\ve 

 performed its intended ofFice, of beini; sold to 

 pupply every school whose accommodatintx teach- 

 er will require its purchase ; and it will then be 

 superseded I'V a newer edition, or some other coni- 

 pilation of like purpose and value, and of like 

 transient reign. We speak not of its contents, 

 which probably, like iis price, are about a fair 

 average of the general supply. Of this work, to 

 he printed as well and on as good paper, a printer 

 in Virginia, could furnish in sheets an edition of 

 10,000, lor ^1527, which is le»s than half a mill 

 per page, or per copy, about - 15 cents. 



Add for binding, suppose - - 12 



Retail price of the northern copies 

 Difference per copy 



27 

 100 



73 cents. 



much reduced as they already have been in the 

 northernciiies — the foregoing comparison of prices 

 will be siill more remarkable. The estimate of 

 expense and of pri e, here, is made at the neces- 

 sarily hitrher rates heretofore and usually charged 

 lor book-work in Virginia, executed by small hand- 

 presses ; and the norThern editions, and particular- 

 ly iliose of the American Tract Society, are pro- 

 duced at less cost by one third, by means of cheap- 

 er materials and better and cheaper workmen, 

 large presses, worked by steam or by horse-pow- 

 er, stereotype plates, and editions which sometimes 

 extend to 100,000 copies, or more. A printer in 

 Vir<iinia, after acquiring these additional and 

 great facilities, (which certainly will follow suf- 

 fieieut increased demand for his products,) could, 

 in proportion, still more reduce his prices, without 

 lessening his profits. But at present, and under 

 all the existing disadvantages caused by the pecu- 

 liar existing circumstances, a printer in Virginia 

 could make greater profits than any of his breth- 

 ren here have ever done, by printing and selling 

 works in the Ibrm and manner of the publications 

 of the American Tract Society, at prices lower than 

 these are sold lor. Thus will appear, (what few 

 persons who have subscribed to aid this great be- 

 nevolent and excellent plan would have suspect- 

 ed.) that the works of this society are, or ought 

 to be, very profitable to the publishers, as well as 

 benefical to the consumers. 



From these general statements, (to which no 

 contradiction is leared, and of which the truth can 

 be tested by reference to any intelligent printer,) 

 it will sufficiently appear, that nothing but suffi- 

 ent demand is re(juired to make the trade of ma- 

 uiifacluring books in Virginia highly profitable. 

 But it is impossible, in the present state of things, 

 for any individual to break through the existing 

 monopoly possessed by northern publishers, or 

 even to venture to compete with them. Suppose 

 one were so bold and imprudent as to incur this 

 risk, and were to publish some good school-book, 

 which is the kind (or which there would be the 

 best chance lor selling. If he prints a small edition, 

 the price must necessarily be higher than the prices 

 of those already in possession of the market; and of 

 course his work could not come into competition. 

 If he issued a very large edition, and with the 

 view of being enabled to sell at a lower price 



