BARGAIN - HUNTERS. 



47 



number, but at times whole ships abl 

 full, to the wondering of the foreign 

 nations. Yea, the universities oi 

 this realm are not all clear of thii 

 detestable fact. But, cursed is that 

 belly which seeketh to be fed with 

 such ungodly gains, and shameth 



his natural country. I know a 

 merchantman, which shall at thi 

 time be nameless, that bought the 

 contents of two noble libraries for 

 forty shillings price ; a shame it i 

 to be spoken ! This stuff hath he 

 occupied in the stead of gray paper, 

 by the space of more than ten years, 

 and yet he hath store enough for as 

 many years to come ! (Bale's Pre- 

 face to the Laboryouse Journey oi 

 Leland.) 



LITERARY PROPERTY. 



Mr. Alexander Donaldson, book- 

 seller, of Edinburgh, had for some 

 time opened a shop in London and 

 sold his cheap editions of the most 

 popular English books, in defiance 

 of the supposed common-law right 

 of literary property. Dr. Johnson, 

 though he concurred in the opinion 

 which was afterwards sanctioned 

 by a judgment of the House of 

 Lords, that there was no such right, 

 was at this time very angry that 

 the booksellers of London, for whom 

 he uniformly professed much regard, 

 should suffer from an invasion of 

 what they had ever considered to be 

 secure, and he was loud and violent 

 against Mr. Donaldson. " He is a 

 fellow who takes advantage of the 

 law to injure his brethren; for 

 notwithstanding that the statute 

 secures only fourteen years of ex- 

 clusive right, it has always been 

 understood by the trade that he who 

 buys the copyright of a book from 

 the author obtains a perpetual pro- 

 perty ; and, upon that belief, num- 

 berless bargains are made to transfer 

 that property after the expiration 

 of the statutory term. Now Don- 

 aldson, I say, takes advantage here 

 of people who have really an equit- 



e title from usage; and if we 

 consider how few of the books of 

 which they buy the property suc- 

 ceed so well as to bring profit, we 

 should be of opinion that the term of 

 fourteen years is too short; it should 

 be sixty years." Dempster: " Do- 

 naldson, sir, is anxious for the 

 encouragement of literature. He 

 reduces the price of books so that 

 poor students may buy them." 

 Johnson (laughing): "Well, sir, 

 allowing that to be his motive, he 

 is no better than Robin Hood, who 

 robbed the rich in order to give to 

 the poor." (Boswell's Life of John- 

 son.) 



BARGAIN-HUNTERS. 



You will perhaps be surprised 

 when I inform you that .there are 

 in London (and, I suppose, in other 

 populous places), persons who pur- 

 chase every article which they have 

 occasion for (and also many articles 

 which they have no occasion for, 

 nor ever will) at stalls, beggarly 

 shops, pawnbrokers, &c., under the 

 idea of purchasing cheaper than 

 they could at respectable shops, and 

 of men of property. A considerable 

 number of these customers I had in 

 the beginning, who forsook my shop 

 as soon as I began to appear more re- 

 spectable, by introducing better or- 

 der, possessing more valuable books, 

 and having acquired a better judg- 

 ment, &c. Notwithstanding which, 

 I declare to you upon my honour, 

 that these very bargain -hunters 

 have given me double the price that 

 I now charge for thousands and 

 tens of thousands of volumes. For, 

 as a tradesman increases in respec- 

 tability and opulence, his opportu- 

 nities of purchasing increase propor- 

 tionably, and the more he buys and 

 sells the more he becomes a judgp 

 of the real value of his goods. It 

 was for want of the experience 

 and judgment, stock, &c., that for 

 several years I was in the habit of 

 hare-ing more than double the 



