326 Nations lately become Literary. 



large annual emission of important works on the 

 most interesting subjects in literature and science. 

 The book-trade of England and France is almost 

 entirely confined to their capitals, while the other 

 great towns have few booksellers; and even the 

 greater part of these only act as factors or agents 

 to those who reside in the grand centre of business. 

 But the German empire has no capital city, 

 which, like London or Paris, forms a kind of lite- 

 rary vortex, that absorbs the whole produce of the 

 country, and out of which few books are to be 

 found. ■ For this reason literature is more generally 

 diffused in Germany. The residence of many a 

 petty prince is more fertile in literary productions, 

 than some large cities in England or France. 

 Hence the book-trade is more equally distributed 

 through the country; and small towns, otherwise 

 of little importance, are furnished with respectable 

 and independent booksellers, each of whom, per- 

 haps, will carry to the Leipsic and Frankfort Fairs, 

 a dozen new works published by him, to be distri- 

 buted not only in his own immediate neighbour- 

 hood, but also in every province of the empire. 



The mode of disposing of books by resorting to 

 Fairs for the purpose, is peculiar to Germany, and 

 has been established in that country for many 

 years. To these great literary marts the book- 

 vsellers flock in crowds from every part of the coun- 

 try, with bales of books, and with complete cata- 

 logues of the works which they have to sell. Here 

 an amount of sales, and especially of barter, is ef- 

 fected, which has no parallel in the world. This 

 plan is attended with many advantages. Book- 

 sellers, by having so extensive and ready a sale, are 

 enabled to strike off much larger impressions of 

 good works, and to afford them at a lower price. 

 He who wishes to procure a book in that country, 

 instead of being condemned to a long and tedious 



